port slowdowns may ease by mid-April or May. Zion said delays might last until June or July. Schneider, whose company handles a variety of agricultural exports, said he expects delays to continue the rest of the year. “My crystal ball tells me that it’s go- ing to get better, but it’s not going to get where it was,” he said. “We’re going to have a new norm that’s not the best.” Charlie Devers, a sales representa- tive for Porterville Citrus in Terra Bella, said he’s been dealing with “a logistical nightmare” since the start of the citrus export season in late November—hear- ing complaints fromoverseas customers about not getting fruit, working into the night with his transportation division trying to get containers and contending with long wait times. Congestion at the Port of Long Beach is so bad, he said, that there have been times when more than 60 vessels sat idle in the ocean, waiting to anchor. Because he ships a perishable prod- uct, Devers said the company is being charged about $100 a day per container to have it refrigerated at the port. With delays averaging 10 to 14 days, he saidhis customers report more spoilage when they do receive their shipments; some pay extra to send pallets by air. Containers Continued from Page 3
“It’s a constant battle, and it’s not get- ting any better. If anything, this thing’s gotten a lot worse,” he said, notingMarch remains the busiest month for exports in the citrus business. What’s frustrating, he said, is that there’s “huge demand” for California citrus fruit, especially in foreign mar- kets such as Korea and Japan. But with current port conditions, he estimated he’s exporting about 20% less fruit this season, which means more is being re- directed to the domestic market, driving down prices. For Tulare County citrus farmer Matt Watkins, port delays have affected har- vesting of the crop. Though some of it can be stored on the tree, it will need to comeoff as harvest seasonmoves into the warmer months, he said. The delays have meant rearrang- ing harvest schedules and sometimes slowing the process, due to more fruit remaining in cold storage that needs to be shipped. “You’re losing export opportunities,” Watkins said. “In a large citrus crop year, it’s not the best thing to be happening.” Port problems have “definitely slowed cotton exports,” said Roger Isom, pres- ident and CEO of the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association, not- ing companies are incurring $10,000 to $30,000 a month in various charges due
to delays. Some bookings have been can- celed as many as 10 times, he said. “What we’re really concerned about now is the delays are so long that (cus- tomers) are just going to get tired of wait- ing for it and move to another country or some other supplier for their cotton,” Isom said. At Sierra Valley Almonds in Madera, two- to three-week delays on almost ev- ery export shipment mean storage fees and chassis rental charges can reach $1,500 to $3,000, according to sales and shipping manager Jessica Lawrence— leaving nomargin for profit. With slowdowns being “the new nor-
said the costs to move cargo have gone up “dramatically—many times in excess of 100% on the freight side.” Inability to ship rice in a timely and efficientmanner would tarnish the reputationof California as “the utmost reliable supplier of rice in the world,” he said. “It’s not sustainable over a long term, and we do need some help fromour reg- ulatory bodies,” he said. Crutchfield called on the Federal MaritimeCommission to tell carriers they have a responsibility under federal law to treat exports and imports equitably. The commission has an open inves- tigation on U.S. port congestion, in-
“It’s a constant battle, and it’s not getting any better. If anything, this thing’s gotten a lot worse.”
—Charlie Devers, Porterville Citrus
mal,” she said shenowtells her customers to expect their shipments to arrive three weeks later. She said the company is re- focusing its sales efforts on markets that don’t require ocean shipment, such as Canada, Mexico and the U.S. An exporter of California rice, Chris Crutchf ield, president and CEO of American Commodity Co. in Williams,
cluding practices related to detention and demurrage charges and container return practices. But Crutchfield said this process takes time, and until the in- vestigation concludes and recommen- dations are made, “you’re not going to see any relief.” (ChingLeeisanassistanteditorofAgAlert. Shemaybe contactedat clee@cfbf.com.)
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16 Ag Alert March 24, 2021
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