Some ships divert as LA-Long Beach container terminals still closed
Houston (Platts)--3Dec2012/615 pm EST/2315 GMT
Some bunker fuel demand has been diverted to other ports as numerous
container ship terminals at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in
California remain closed due to a labor strike, market sources said
Monday.
Several bunker market sources said the terminal closures are affecting
demand from container ships at the ports. At least one ship owner said
Monday that ships were diverted from Los Angeles to fuel elsewhere.
Other sources say that non-container vessels, such as cruise ships and
smaller ships are still able to refuel and demand is being met.
"There is a level of fear for the container ships looking to call LA, so
we are still looking at that as a potential demand killer," said one
bunker market source who does not deal with container ships.
Distillate traders in the US West Coast said exports were minimal for
refined products in Los Angeles ports and those exports would be from
refinery docks not affected by the strike. No imports were occurring,
either.
"It doesn't affect us. There shouldn't be cargoes with these kind of
inventories," one market source said. The only ripple effect could be
from a reduction of diesel demand for trucks taking product off the
dock, but he called that amount "a thimble in a swimming pool."
Three of the six container terminals at the Port of Long Beach remain
closed, the same amount closed on Friday, according to the port's
website.
Seven of the eight container terminals at the Port of Los Angeles remain
closed, the same terminals affected Thursday and Friday, according to
the port's website.
The Local 63 Office Clerical Unit of the International Longshore and
Warehouse Union set up pickets at the ports, according to the union's
website. The OCU's members have been working without a contract for 30
months while negotiations continued with carriers and terminal
operators. Longshoremen with the ILWU have refused to cross the OCU
picket line, further snarling port operations.
The National Retail Foundation Sunday asked President Barack Obama to
engage in the contract negotiations, saying that a prolonged strike at
the "nation's largest ports would have a devastating impact on the US
economy."
--Lucretia Cardenas,
lucretia_cardenas@platts.com
--Matthew Kohlman,
matthew_kohlman@platts.com
--Edited by Katharine Fraser,
katharine_fraser@platts.com
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