Congestion in West America is expected to ease in about 6 months, and it may usher in dawn in six months

Recently, the person in charge of the Port of Long Beach, one of the busiest ports in the United States, said that he expected that one of the important factors causing the supply chain disruption in the United States-port congestion, would ease in about six months.  

Zhitong Finance learned that Mario Cordero, the executive director of the Port of Long Beach, said at an online press conference on Thursday local time that the congestion dilemma of US ports is expected to be alleviated in about six months, and the supply chain problems that plague the United States would be effectively resolved by then.  

Cordero said: "This is a global issue that needs to be focused on. I think the current situation is moving in an optimistic direction." "In my opinion, I hope that normal operations can be restored in most links in about 6 months, but , I must emphasize that there is an important factor that we must consider, and that is that the negative impact of COVID-19 still exists."

The unprecedented surge in consumer demand, coupled with the severe shortage of truck drivers and warehouse workers in the United States during the COVID-19 period, had led to long queues of container ships waiting to be unloaded, and a large number of containers full of cargo stranded in American ports.  

Cordero said that despite the severe setbacks in cargo transportation, port workers and cargo operators at the Port of Long Beach handled 8.6 million containers from January to November, about 500,000 more than in 2020. He said that the port's container throughput this year would reach a record of more than 9 million.  

According to statistics, there are more large ships waited to enter the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach than ever before. As of Wednesday, 96 container ships were waited to be unloaded.  

It is understood that the new queuing system in US ports came into effect on November 16, requiring ships to notify the port when leaving Asia and to keep more ships away from the southern California coastline. Cordero said that this strategy meant fewer ships waiting near the port, thereby alleviating port congestion and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.  

Cordero said: "The best way to reduce carbon emissions is to reduce the number of ships congested in the port. Therefore, we must improve the efficiency of the port. I think the new queuing system will greatly improve the congestion situation in the port."