16 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • NOVEMBER 2021
FEATURE
SUPPLY CHAIN CRUNCH FORCING
BY NANDITA BOSE AND LISA
BAERTLEIN, AND TIMOTHY BOLGER
This holiday shopping season will be
another for the history books, thanks
to the lingering economic impacts of
the ongoing coronavirus pandemic,
experts say.
Covid-19 has caused a backlog in the
consumer product manufacturing and
shipping industries, commonly known
as the supply chain crunch, which is
making it more diffi cult for retailers
to stock up on hot items. That, combined
with an uptick in infl ation and
some shoppers still wary of going into
stores with the virus still spreading, is
prompting some to start shopping much
earlier than usual to avoid leaving
loved ones’ wish lists unfulfi lled.
“The businesses have already said Black
Friday is not going to be Black Friday,
it›s going to be like a Black November,”
said Martin Cantor, a local economist.
“They›re trying to spread out their
bargains.”
President Joe Biden is pushing to ease
supply shortages and tame rising prices
in time for Christmas, but unsnarling
U.S. supply lines could take far longer,
experts told Reuters.
Biden brought together power brokers
from ports, unions, and big business on
Oct. 13 to address shipping, labor, and
warehousing pain in the U.S. supply
chain, and announced new around-theclock
port operations in Los Angeles.
As his Republican opposition seizes on
possible Christmas shortages to connect
Biden›s economic policies to infl ation,
and try to stall a multitrillion-dollar
spending bill in Congress in coming
weeks, the White House›s message
Wednesday was that a solution is in
sight.
“This is an across-the-board commitment
to going to 24/7,” said Biden, a
Democrat. The port opening, and a
promise from retailers like Target and
Walmart to move more goods at night
are a “big fi rst step,” he said. Now, he
said, “we need the rest of the private
sector chain to step us as well.”
While more cooperation among the
often competing, secretive players
in the U.S. supply chain business is a
plus, the White House›s impact may be
incremental at best, logistics experts,
economists, and labor unions warned.
“What the president›s doing isn›t going
to really hurt. But at the end of the day,
it doesn›t solve the problem,” said Steven
Ricchiuto, U.S. chief economist at
Mizuho Securities.
Americans, already by far the world›s biggest
consumers, have simply been buying
a lot more stuff during the pandemic,
much of it imported. Couple that with
nationwide labor and equipment shortages
plus a lack of space to store that stuff ,
and the forecast looks worse.
Players from ports to retail chains are
already working full tilt to handle the
pandemic-fueled surge in imports and
get holiday gift s onto shelves and e-commerce
centers in time for the Nov. 26 Black
Friday kickoff of the 2021 holiday season.
Imports at the Port of Los Angeles —
the No. 1 gateway for ocean trade with
China — are up 30% so far this year over
last year›s record.
But that has left some 250,000 containers
of goods stacked up on the docks due
to delayed pickups from chassis shortages
and a lack of space in railyards and
warehouses. And that is causing dozens
of ships to back up at anchor outside
the port.
The congested Port of Los Angeles is shown in San Pedro, Calif., U.S., September 29, 2021. (REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo)
continued on page 17
/LONGISLANDPRESS.COM
