It’s Getting a Lot Harder to Ship Food Around the World

  • Container issues, limited port hours snarl shipments
  • ‘The outbound capacity is really starting to diminish’
Manila port bursting at the seams with cargo in the Philippines on Tuesday, March 31, 2020.
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

The port backups that have paralyzed food shipments around the world for weeks aren’t getting much better. In fact, in some places, they’re getting worse.

In the Philippines, officials at a port that’s a key entry point for rice said earlier this week the terminal was at risk of shutting as thousands of shipping containers pile up because lockdown measures are making them harder to clear. Meanwhile, curfews in Guatemala and Honduras, known for their specialty coffees, are limiting operating hours at ports and slowing shipments. And in parts of Africa, which is heavily dependent on food imports, there aren’t enough workers showing up to help unload cargoes.