How Does Current Strike Affect Duluth Shipping Port?
Nearly 50,000 dockworkers are currently on strike across the nation, with a nearly $5 billion impact on the economy each day, but how is the strike affecting the Duluth Port?
Businesses big and small are scrambling to find alternative ways to get shipments into the United States from sea, there are currently dozens of huge cargo ships waiting at sea with nowhere to dock due to the strike.
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According to Business North, the Duluth dockworkers, despite being in the same striking union, are not in the same contract area as the striking workers, Duluth has a different contract with the International Longshoremen's Association.
That means that the Duluth Port is open, and ready to handle any shipments that need a place to unload. Jayson Hron, Duluth Seaway Port Authority director of Communication and Marketing, told Business North, "Duluth has the cargo-moving equipment, the port infrastructure, on-site customs and border protection support, uncongested highways, on-dock access to four...railroads and an award-winning cargo logistics team.”
The Port of Duluth-Superior is North America’s farthest-inland freshwater seaport, with 20 bulk cargo docks on 49 miles of harbor frontage. The number one export from the Duluth-Superior Port is grain, with more than 1 million tons of moving through each season.
The Port of Duluth-Superior move an average of 35 million tons of bulk material each year, most of that being iron ore, they transport about 20 million tons of the stuff each season, making up 55% of the good moved each shipping season.
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