Port Strikes Complicate Chilean Exports
Santiago, Chile
By Eric Anderson
4.4.13
Strikes across Chile’s major ports are posing a growing obstacle to fruit and other shipments. The strikes are especially problematic as the country relies heavily on exports.
According to Chile’s business chamber, the country is losing more than $200 million a day due to the conflict, as reported by Reuters.
In most of Chile's central-southern regions, fruit growers are expected to temporarily halt harvesting as of Friday, as roughly 1,600 containers sit at the San Antonio port and producers' losses already total some $50 million, according to fruit trade group.
The group also said those losses could climb to $400 million if the strike continues through April.
The Angamos port in Mejillones launched a strike about three weeks ago to seek a 30-minute lunch break, and other ports have since joined the work stoppage in solidarity.
"This strike can end today or it can last 10 more days," Angamos union leader Enrique Solar told Reuters.
One shift of workers at the Valparaiso port joined the strike movement on Wednesday, bringing operations there to "half steam," a port worker told Reuters. The ports of Iquique, Antofagasta, Huasco, Caldera, San Antonio and around six smaller ports in the southern Bio Bio region are already on strike, a union leader said.
Experts say presidential elections in November have also contributed to an uptick in labor unrest.
"We calculate that the effects of this strike will be felt two months after operations have restarted because the traffic jam at ports will be huge and there will be a long line to load ships," Gonzalo Garcia, General Secretary of CPMC, forestry and paper company, said.
Importers are optimistic that the circumstances will be resolved and that shipping will resume with no disruption in supply. At this point in the game, everyone is still waiting to see how the situation in Chile plays out.
