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Asia meat buyers welcome West Coast port deal

Photo courtesy of Journal of Commerce.

Photo courtesy of Journal of Commerce.

The tentative West Coast port labor contract agreement came as good news for US meat exporters.  Joel Haggard, US Meat Export Federation senior vice president for the Asia Pacific says Asian meat buyers also welcomed the announcement.

He says the import volume in that region was significant in 2014.  “The US exported approximately $2 billion of beef and pork in chilled form to Asia,” he says. “The chilled pork trade alone is worth approximately $1 billion per year and we see an average of about 1,000 containers of chilled pork shipped to Japan monthly.”

Shipping delays create the biggest challenges for chilled beef and pork, but it also became problematic for importers of frozen meat.  “Importers of frozen products, like that of chilled, depend on sales to generate profits, but also working capital to purchase more product,” Haggard says.  “The lack of product flow meant squeezed cash flows for many importers of product from Asia.”

According to the LA Times, Southern California port officials say it could take up to three months to clear the backlogged cargo.

During a news conference on Monday, Port of Los Angeles executive director Gene Seroka said they were working to clear 22 vessels, there were 35 ships anchored, and two dozen more headed to ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach.

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