Items Tagged with 'shipping containers'

The USDA will fund 60% of the cost of adding a new 25-acre container yard at the Port of Oakland, while also subsidizing ag exporters' shipping expenses, and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says the Biden administration wants to repeat the project elsewhere.

American ag exporters have been finding it increasingly difficult to get their commodities into containers and onto ships as Chinese companies and international shippers monopolize ocean transportation, but lawmakers are hoping to alleviate the situation with new legislation.

Some ag exporters have complained that they can’t get their products into containers or that the filled containers are sitting at port, incurring fees and risking spoilage, because shippers are sending empty containers back to Asia so they can be filled with imports and sent back to the U.S. as fast as possible.

The Federal Maritime Commission has been investigating a practice by marine operators at ports to stockpile empty containers during a shortage of outgoing containers.

The Department of Agriculture expects U.S. farm exports to hit a record $157 billion for fiscal 2021, an increase of $21 billion over the year before, as the global economy recovers and China increases its already strong demand for U.S. corn, soybeans and meat.