Study: Importers cite ports disruption as top concern

   As shippers fret over the impact of labor negotiations between union longshoremen and their employers at U.S. West Coast ports, it should come as little surprise that importers considered port labor disruption as one of their biggest supply chain concerns this year, according to research by American Shipper.
   According to preliminary data from American Shipper’s 2014 Import Operations and Compliance Benchmark Study, due out in late July, retailers named it as their top import concern, while manufacturers and 3PLs named it as their second- and third-biggest concern, respectively.
   Fifty six percent of retailers said the impact of potential port disruption was one of their top three concerns, far above their second-biggest concern (increasing rates, at 39 percent). Among manufacturers, 35 percent said port disruption was a top concern, second only to customs delays (36 percent). For 3PLs, 31 percent cited it as one of their biggest concerns, behind only carrier capacity withdrawal (35 percent) and increasing rates (33 percent).
   Retailer organizations such as the National Retail Federation have repeatedly voiced their concerns over the impact a disruption at West Coast ports would have on retail supply chains. For comparison, roughly 20 percent of all shippers cited port labor disruption impacts as one of their biggest concerns in the 2013 edition of the import benchmark study, which was released ahead of the deadline for negotiations between U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast longshoremen and their employers.
   Data for the benchmark study was collected in the spring from 250 respondents.