A major port strike on the East Coast and Gulf Coast could threaten Americans' banana supplies, but it's unlikely to directly cause a toilet paper shortage, but that won't stop consumers from panic-buying.
Thousands of members of the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) have stopped working, demanding big pay increases and protection from automation after the shipping companies that employ them have had years of record profits. After the group began its strike on Tuesday, users began recording the number of its members on social media. There seems to be a shortage of toilet paper.
“I hope they have toilet paper in stock. It's started. Sam's and Costco are out of stock.” one user said Posted a photo of a nearly empty shelf on social platform X.
“My husband and I went to Costco tonight and they didn't have any toilet paper,” said another. User posted on X. “The remaining paper towels were flying off the shelves. So many people were picking up two or three large packages.”
However, the shortage is not necessarily due to the strike, but rather the panic buying of toilet paper in large quantities.
“I think the problems we're going to have going forward are largely due to people's hoarding behavior, panic buying,” said Arsum Akkas, an associate professor in the School of Operations and Information Management at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Interview.
Akas added that she was “not worried” that the strike would directly impact toilet paper supplies for a variety of reasons. As an example, she said most toilet paper is manufactured locally. Second, manufacturers have “buffer inventory,” or surplus goods stored in warehouses.
Approximately 90 percent of toilet paper in the United States is made in the United States. CNN reported. The rest will come from Mexico or Canada, likely arriving by truck or rail.
The American Forest and Paper Association, an industry group representing paper manufacturers, told CNN it is concerned about how the port strike will affect exports to overseas markets rather than imports.
Ryan Peterson, CEO of Flexport, a company that manages shipping and trucking for some of the industry's biggest brands, also said the toilet paper shortage is largely related to panic buying, not the strike itself. I agree with Mr. Akasu's opinion that there are.
“Brands stocked up ahead of this,” Peterson said in an interview with The Hill.
“They know this is going to be the case for most of this year, so they've been reducing inventory, and they're also diverting some shipments that might be going to the East Coast to the West Coast,” he said. spoke.
Peterson added that people are in a good place right now and it's “premature” to worry about potential shortages or price increases if the strike lasts longer than the demand businesses initially expected. Ta.
“I guess we'll just have to wait and see how long this strike lasts, but we'll know more next week. If that's the case. [goes into] “I think the second week is likely to be a long one, so I think this is the critical moment,” Peterson said.
Walmart has become one of the largest importers over the past year. told Axios earlier this week. It means preparing for “unforeseen disruptions.”
“We prepare for unexpected disruptions in our supply chain and maintain additional sources of supply to ensure our customers have access to key products when and how they want,” a Walmart spokesperson said, according to Axios. said.
