Recently, global trade has faced a strike crisis at two major ports, Chittagong in Bangladesh and Santos in South America, and the work stoppages at these two key nodes have had a huge impact on the global supply chain.
According to The Loadstar, transport operators at the Chittagong port in Bangladesh began a 48-hour strike action on Oct. 21, leaving import and export containers stranded. The strike, initiated by the Union of Main Trailer Workers of Chittagong District, is expected to affect the transportation of 3,000 to 4,000 TEUs per day. The secretary general of Bangladesh Inland Container Depot Association (BICDA) said if the strike continues, it will not be possible to transport containers in time and many of them will miss their scheduled barges and mother ships.
Previously, the Chittagong port had been continuously congested due to civil unrest and customs system malfunctioning, and normal operations and cargo clearance were seriously disrupted. The strike has added insult to injury, further deteriorating the already fragile port operations, and significantly increasing the difficulty and time cost of resuming normal operations.
Brazil’s Port of Santos, the largest port in South America, is also facing the threat of a strike. According to Seafood News, some 60,000 registered and freelance dockworkers are planning a 12-hour strike on Oct. 22 that will severely impact operations at the Port of Santos. The Port of Santos, the largest port in South America, is an important gateway for Brazil’s foreign trade, from which large quantities of agricultural products, minerals, and other resources are shipped around the world. After the strike, the port’s loading and unloading activities came to a complete standstill, and a large number of import and export containers were delayed.
As a globally important exporter of agricultural products, Brazil, especially soybeans, coffee, sugar and other products, occupies an important position in the international market. The strike at the Santos port has blocked the export of these agricultural products, and a large amount of goods have been backlogged at the port. This has not only led to a fall in the prices of Brazilian domestic agricultural products due to oversupply and serious damage to the interests of farmers, but has also triggered price volatility in the international agricultural market. Meanwhile, for countries and regions relying on Brazilian mineral imports, the disruption of raw material supply has also had an impact on the production of related industries.
Chain Reaction of the Strike Crisis
The strikes in the ports of Chittagong and Santos were like two boulders thrown into the global trade pool, sending ripples through the layers. For the international shipping industry, a large number of ships were stranded in these two ports, ship schedules were disrupted, and shipping companies had to re-plan their routes, which increased operating costs. Some shipping companies have begun to transfer cargoes originally planned to call at these two ports to other ports in the vicinity, but this is not a long-term solution, after all, the carrying capacity and operational efficiency of other ports are also facing challenges.
In terms of the global industrial chain, the supply chain of many enterprises has been seriously disrupted. Some enterprises have been forced to adjust or suspend their production schedules due to disruptions in the supply of raw materials, which has resulted in longer delivery cycles for their products and lower customer satisfaction. The impact of the strike was particularly significant for industries with high demands on timeliness, such as electronic products and fresh food.
In addition, the strike crisis in the two ports has also aroused widespread concern in the international community. International organizations have called on all parties to remain calm and solve the problem through dialogue and consultation in order to maintain the stability of global trade. The governments of the countries concerned are also actively intervening, trying to harmonize the conflicts between the port management, trade unions and workers to find a solution.
In this strike crisis, workers at the Chittagong and Santos ports have fought for their rights and interests, and their demands deserve attention and resolution. However, the negative impacts of the strikes cannot be ignored, not only impacting the local economy, but also posing a threat to the stability and development of global trade. How to protect workers’ rights and interests while ensuring the normal operation of the ports and the smooth flow of global trade is a difficult question before all parties. In the future, the development of the situation in these two ports will be of great concern, and global trade will also closely follow their every move.
