US west coast labour issues slow epoxy shipments

28 July 2008 20:04  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--Labour issues at US west coast ports have slowed epoxy resin deliveries, a source said on Monday.

Work slowdowns have occurred at the California ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and were beginning to take place at the port of Oakland, the Pacific Maritime Association said.

The productivity fall-offs came following the 1 July expiration of the ports’ labour contract with International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), the Pacific Maritime Association said. The contract covered 26,000 west coast dockworkers at 29 ports, according to the union.

Negotiations for a new contract were ongoing.

“Some terminals’ productivity dropped 40%,” an epoxy resin buyer said.

The source said recent deliveries from Asian producers from west coast ports have been delayed by one week.

“Over the last two weeks, more than a third of the vessels in southern California have had productivity drops of over 20%,” the Pacific Maritime Association said. “More than one in ten have had productivity fall over 30%."

This has resulted in disruption of schedules, with some vessels forced to sail leaving cargo and empty containers on the docks in order to maintain schedules.

This coordinated action over the last two weeks has led to increasing congestion on the docks which will compound the effects of the slowdown, the maritime association said.

(Additional reporting by David Barry)

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