The Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), which represents companies that own ports on the west coast of the US, has been in prolonged negotiations with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), which represents dock workers, over a new contract, according to the NPPC.
This has resulted in major disruptions to shipping due to a "work slowdown" at the ports in Long Beach, Los Angeles and Oakland in California, and Seattle and Tacoma in Washington. According to the NPPC, there has been food left rotting in containers, with the loss of export sales and the payment of unanticipated port shortage charges costing the meat and poultry industry in excess of $30m a week.
The NPPC said the lack of storage space is now resulting in Asian shipments being cancelled.
"Meat companies may soon be forced to shut or slow processing lines, which could have catastrophic consequences for producers, with animals ready for market backing up on the farm. In addition, global customers are upset by the failure of US companies to satisfy orders," warned the NPPC.
Joe Schuele, vice-president, communications at the US Meat Export Federation (USMEF) told GlobalMeatNews that, when operating normally, $150m worth of US beef and pork exports typically pass through west coast ports every week.
"About 78% of waterborne US beef and pork exports utilise the west coast ports, because our largest overseas markets are in Asia," he said.
Schuele said it was difficult to quantify the amount of lost business, due to congestion at the port, "but the impact has definitely been significant".
"The situation is especially problematic for exporters of higher-end chilled (never frozen) meat, because these products have limited shelf-life," he explained.
"A large percentage of our chilled beef and pork exports go to Japan and South Korea, and buyers in these markets are increasingly hesitant to place chilled orders because of the uncertainty surrounding west coast port operations. Frozen meat exports do not carry the same shelf-life concerns, but any additional time spent in port due to congestion means additional costs for the exporter."
USMEF has been monitoring the dispute since in began in May last year, with its concerns heightened in late October when congestion began to worsen.
"We are frustrated with the lack of progress towards a new contract, and hopeful that an agreement is reached soon," he said.
A spokesperson for the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council told GlobalMeatNews that the impact on US poultry exporters has been tempered somewhat by China’s nationwide ban on US poultry, as shipments to China would generally depart from the West Coast.
A recent statement from the PMA that eight months of contract talks and two months of ILWU-staged slowdowns have resulted in operations at the five largest ports on the west coast "approaching complete gridlock".
The ILWU has withheld, on average, 75 yard crane drivers each day, stalling the movement of tens of thousands of containers, estimated the PMA.
The Association said it had continually pushed for the involvement of a federal mediator, with the ILWU finally agreeing to outside intervention earlier this month. However, no progress has been made during the talks since, with work slowdowns still continuing, it said.