The wage deal by dockworkers and port operators settled the three-day strike by the former, and US East Coast and Gulf Coast ports began reopening late yesterday. Clearing the cargo backlog will, however, take time.

Freight rates are no longer expected to rise.

It may take two to three weeks for the normal flow of goods to be reestablished, Norway-based freight pricing platform Xeneta said.

At 5 am (Eastern Time) today, there were 44 ships queuing to enter affected ports and more than 120 en route, Xeneta said.

“The dozens of ships delayed on the US East Coast and Gulf Coast will also be late arriving back in the Far East. This will impact schedules towards the end of this year and possibly into 2025 in the run-up to Lunar New Year at the end of January, which traditionally sees an increase in goods shipped out of the Far East,” Xeneta chief analyst Peter Sand said on the company’s website.

Latest data from Xeneta shows shippers have already been hit by increasing freight rates as a direct result of strikes.

Average spot rates on the most affected trade from North Europe to US East Coast stand at $2,900 per FEU (40 ft equivalent unit) on October 4—an increase of 58 per cent since the end of August.

The alternative trade from North Europe to the US West Coast has also been hit, with average spot rates increasing by 48 per cent in the same period to stand at $4,450 per FEU.

Sand warns the market will remain challenging in the weeks and months ahead.

"Today’s tentative agreement on a record wage and an extension of the collective bargaining process represents critical progress towards a strong contract," Preisdent Joe Biden said on the agreement.

"I want to thank the union workers, the carriers, and the port operators for acting patriotically to reopen our ports and ensure the availability of critical supplies for Hurricane Helene recovery and rebuilding. Collective bargaining works, and it is critical to building a stronger economy from the middle out and the bottom up," he added.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)