North America's biggest container port faces record backlog

The search continues to be driven by the American consumer. We've been averaging more than 900,000 container units for the past 14 consecutive months. The duration of this cargo run is quite remarkable. The more cargo we can get out the gates via truck and rail leaves more room to get that next ship in. And our goal continues to be everyday chip down at that number of container ships at anchor Again. As I said though, this season that we're in this all important holiday season has 25 ships coming across the Pacific that are due to land at anchor in the next three days. So we've got to keep working as hard as we can to get these goods through the American supply chain. I think we all understand uh, that the whole supply chain in the United States and in fact globally was creaking along before the pandemic. The pandemic laid bare with its its increased volumes and with its different buying patterns, it laid bare a system that really needs to be modified. And the way we can do that Uh, in the short term together is to move towards more 24 7 operations

Approximately 200,000 shipping containers remained gridlocked off the coast of Los Angeles on Monday as pandemic-related disruptions continue to affect various supply chains, according to Gene Seroka, the executive director of the Port of Los Angeles."We have about two weeks' worth of work sitting at anchor right now," Seroka said in an interview with CNN. "The question right now is how do we segment this cargo."Easing the backlog is crucial during the final months of the year because retail items are in high demand as holiday shopping begins to kick off, Seroka said. Automotive parts are also being prioritized because U.S. auto manufacturers and many suppliers through the Midwest are waiting on components so they can build their final products."We had 25% of all cargo on our dock sitting here for 13 days or longer that's been cut in just about half over the last week," Seroka said.Five days ago, President Joe Biden announced the Port of Los Angeles would move to a 24/7 operating schedule. While this has alleviated some of the congestion at the ports, Seroka said officials are not expecting to see the import market strengthen until February 2022."We've been buying more than ever as American consumers and the retailers have really tried their best to keep up with demand," Seroka said. "The second quarter of next year is going to be focused on replenishing this inventory."Around the world, ports are congested as a result of the rapid rebound in demand for commodities and goods as much of the global economy has recovered from the pandemic. Shipping costs have soared, and companies wanting to move goods around are struggling because there just aren't enough ships or containers available. All the while prices are going up for consumers.- Anneken Tappe contributed to this report

LOS ANGELES —

"We have about two weeks' worth of work sitting at anchor right now," Seroka said in an interview with CNN. "The question right now is how do we segment this cargo."

Easing the backlog is crucial during the final months of the year because retail items are in high demand as holiday shopping begins to kick off, Seroka said. Automotive parts are also being prioritized because U.S. auto manufacturers and many suppliers through the Midwest are waiting on components so they can build their final products.

"We had 25% of all cargo on our dock sitting here for 13 days or longer [and] that's been cut in just about half over the last week," Seroka said.

Five days ago, President Joe Biden announced the Port of Los Angeles would move to a 24/7 operating schedule. While this has alleviated some of the congestion at the ports, Seroka said officials are not expecting to see the import market strengthen until February 2022.

"We've been buying more than ever as American consumers and the retailers have really tried their best to keep up with demand," Seroka said. "The second quarter of next year is going to be focused on replenishing this inventory."

Around the world, ports are congested as a result of the rapid rebound in demand for commodities and goods as much of the global economy has recovered from the pandemic. Shipping costs have soared, and companies wanting to move goods around are struggling because there just aren't enough ships or containers available. All the while prices are going up for consumers.

- Anneken Tappe contributed to this report

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