Source: MEATINGPLACE, 2/13/15

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Wednesday characterized a labor dispute that is delaying shipments from West Coast ports as a “very serious situation” for the U.S. meat industry, The Des Moines Register reported.

Vilsack told a House Agriculture Committee hearing he wrote a letter to President Barack Obama to express his concern about the port slowdown. He said bulk grain supplies are moving but containerized supplies have been delayed. “We are looking at a very serious situation,” he was quoted as saying.

Stalled talks between the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union have led to work disruptions and massive congestion at West Coast ports, threatening not only meat producers but the entire U.S. economy.

Lost sales and unanticipated charges are adding up to more than $30 million a week for meat and poultry companies, the North American Meat Institute has estimated.  

The National Pork Producers Council in late January said the work slowdowns had led to thousands of stranded containers of pork and other farm products up and down the West Coast over the past several months. The group said a 20 percent drop in pork prices since November was largely due to the port problem.

On Thursday, Pilgrim’s Pride Chief Executive Bill Lovette said East Coast ports are becoming harder to ship from as exporters divert products from the West Coast, but so far his company has been unaffected. Lovette spoke on the company’s earnings conference call.

For more stories, go to www.meatingplace.com.