The U.S. bridge collision caused "logistics problems", and a large number of cargo ships were rerouted

A bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, collapsed after being hit by a container ship in the early morning of the 26th local time, and the Port of Baltimore, an important port on the east coast, suspended the entry and exit of ships from the same day, causing "logistics problems".

There are many ports on the east coast of the United States, and other ports have the spare capacity to "take over", and the bridge collision incident will not lead to a supply chain crisis in the United States, but the transportation of certain goods such as automobiles and agricultural equipment will be greatly affected.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg was asked at a White House press conference on the 27th what impact the bridge collision incident would have on the U.S. economy, and he replied that more detailed assessment is needed, but this incident is different from the situation where ships are blocked at a single point through the Panama Canal, and it will not force goods destined for the East Coast of the United States to be rerouted to the West Coast.

Cargo ships that were originally scheduled to enter the Port of Baltimore are now busy contacting other ports on the East Coast of the United States.

Agence France-Presse, citing analysts, reported that some of the ships are likely to be diverted to the ports of New York or New Jersey, which have the capacity to handle the increased cargo and handle the equivalent of a year's container throughput at the Port of Baltimore in a shorter time.

A spokesperson for the Port of Virginia said the port was "willing to help" and "has the capacity to absorb any increased container volume." A spokesman for the Georgia Port Authority said the state's ports are also prepared to help absorb some of the volume.

Ryan Sweet, an economist at Oxford Economics, believes that while businesses will have "obvious headaches" in the coming months, they will be able to cope. The bridge collision will affect supply chains, but there are a number of ports near Baltimore that are not expected to have an impact on the U.S. macroeconomy, and a "broad supply shock" that would lead to higher consumer prices in the U.S. market is unlikely.

Buttigieg said at a news conference that the Port of Baltimore handles an average of $100 million to $200 million a day worth of cargo, and that the bridge collision is currently affecting a large number of jobs, and workers are losing about $2 million a day in wages.

Scott Cowen, director of the Baltimore chapter of the International Longshoremen's Federation, said that dockers are hired on a daily basis and only work when cargo is available, and it can take up to a week to process existing cargo at the port, after which the workers will have no source of income.

More than 15,000 people are directly employed at the Port of Baltimore. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said in an interview with CNN that more than 140,000 jobs could be indirectly affected. "The huge economic impact of the Port of Baltimore [suspension of vessel access] is not limited to Maryland," he said, "and could ripple across the country." ”

Experts believe that the economic impact of the collision will depend on how long the Port of Baltimore has suspended the entry and exit of ships.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that the federal government's supply chain working group held a meeting on the 27th to assess the impact of the suspension of ship access at the Port of Baltimore, and the government will do its best to reopen the port as soon as possible.

Buttigieg told Microsoft-NBC reporters on the 27th that although there are many ports on the east coast of the United States, the Port of Baltimore is difficult to replace because the port is an important import and export port for automobiles, agricultural equipment and construction machinery. Experts point out that the bridge collision incident has a greater impact on specific businesses that rely on port transportation.

According to data from the Maryland Port Authority, the Port of Baltimore is the largest "roll-on/roll-off" vehicle transportation port in the United States, with more than 840,000 vehicles handled last year, of which more than 70% were imported. In addition, the Port of Baltimore handles large quantities of bulk cargoes such as timber, steel and aluminum, sugar, and LNG. About 20 percent of U.S. coal exports also pass through it.

Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. of the United States said that the two companies had rerouted the affected cargo, and that the impact of the bridge collision was limited for them. Stellantis said it is working with transporters to discuss contingency plans to ensure that vehicles supplied to customers are not affected.

According to Reuters analysis, U.S. auto inventories have risen to their highest level since May 2020, and the abundant inventories have further dampened the risk of rising auto prices.