U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast ports began reopening late on Thursday after dockworkers and port operators reached a wage deal to settle the industry’s biggest work stoppage in nearly half a century, but clearing the cargo backlog will take time.
The strike ended sooner than investors had expected, weakening shipping stocks across Asia on Friday as freight rates were no longer expected to surge.
At least 54 container ships queued outside the ports as the strike had prevented unloading and threatened shortages of anything from bananas to auto parts. Everstream Analytics was calculated the number queuing at 4:00 p.m. ET (2000 GMT). More ships are sure to arrive.
Pricing platform Xeneta said it was likely to take two to three weeks for the normal flow of goods to be reestablished.
“Remember that ships keep calling, so it’s not just a matter of handling the ships already in line, but to work extra hard to run down the congestion before supply chains are re-running,” Xeneta Chief Analyst Peter Sand told Reuters.
The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) workers union and United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) port operators announced the deal late on Thursday. Sources said they had agreed a wage hike of around 62% over six years, raising average wages to about $63 an hour from $39 an hour.
Shares in shipping companies in Asia and Europe fell.
“Shipping stocks had previously rallied on expectations of price increases triggered by the strike by U.S. dock workers and the tense situation in the Middle East,” said Taishin Securities Investment Advisory analyst Tony Huang.
In Europe, shipping group A.P. Moeller-Maersk (MAERSKb.CO), opens new tab fell 7.7% to the bottom of the STOXX 600, while Hapag-Lloyd (HLAG.DE), opens new tab was down 12.4% and Switzerland’s Kuehne und Nagel (KNIN.S), opens new tab was down 1.8%.
