The Chilean industry has its eyes set on the strike in the ports of the East Coast and the Gulf of the United States. According to data collected by the shipping company Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), Chile exports 1.4 million TEU (20-foot container) to the world each year, and 17% of the total goes to the North American nation (240 thousand TEU).
Shipments from Asia are being diverted to the US West Coast, while ships leaving Latin America and Europe are stopping in areas of the Caribbean and Panama. If you look at the figure in detail, of the 240 thousand TEUs, 180 thousand are directed to the East Coast and the Gulf of the United States, which is equivalent to 14% of Chile’s total exports.
A source linked to MSC Chile stressed to DF that to reduce the load from the eastern ports, MSC has been cleaning the transshipment ports of Panama and the Caribbean for a few weeks, to temporarily leave the ships; while other shipping companies have also had to stop their loading. “We have not yet stopped sending ships, but it all depends on how the strike progresses. “If it lasts four or five days, we will probably start taking more drastic measures.” The commercial director of Vinos de Chile, Angélica Valenzuela, explained that several Chilean wineries are redirecting their shipments to ports in the West. They estimate that 280,000 cases of wine (not bulk) would be in danger in October alone.
