Dockworkers on the US East Coast and Gulf Coast entered the third day of their strike as reports emerged of localized toilet paper shortages across the US.
But experts say that any shortage of supplies on shelves has nothing to do with the strike itself, and has more to do with consumer behavior.
Ronalds Gonzalez, a supply chain expert from North Carolina State University, told Global News that the observed shortages were not related to the port strike.
“This is not happening because of the port strike. This happens because of consumer behavior, Gonzalez said, adding that most toilet paper sold in the United States and Canada is produced domestically.
He added: “People should relax.” They should buy what they normally buy. If you buy an extra box of tissues (more than you need), you will cause a problem.
US President Joe Biden said Thursday he believes progress has been made in a labor contract dispute at ports, as dockworkers entered their third day of strike action along the East Coast and Gulf Coast.
The strike, the largest of its kind in nearly half a century, has blocked container ships from Maine to Texas from unloading, threatening shortages of everything from bananas to auto parts, and leading to a backlog of ships anchored outside major ports.
As the strike continued, social media platforms saw posts by some users running around the shelves in their local supermarkets using toilet paper, bringing back memories of the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic when the supply chain massively hit and hoarded store shelves.
“They cleaned out toilet paper at my local Walmart in Virginia. Toilet Paper Hoarding 2.0! 1 user to publish On the social media platform X.
Reports appeared Of similar shortages at Costco stores in other parts of the United States.
“This is just panic buying,” Dan North, chief economist at insurance group Allianz Trade Americas, said in an email. “Almost all toilet paper (99% by some estimates) is produced here in the United States and is not affected by the strike. It is a bitter throwback to an era Covid, when there was also panic buying.
He added: “It turns into a snowball.” If I hear my local grocery store is out of toilet paper, what will I do? I will rush to buy toilet paper. And then so is the next person.”
What is the impact of a strike?
Gonzalez said it is true that the port strike will hit supply chains, but the impact for North American consumers will be on other sectors, not toilet paper.
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“There will be a lot of delays in the export of pork and meat from the United States to other countries in South America and Europe. In the area of imports, we will have delays in fresh fruits – bananas, plantains, berries – coming from Central America and Latin America.
Banana retailers in the United States and Canada will feel the pinch of the strike, North said.
“Bananas in particular are at risk as almost all bananas are imported, and half of these imports come through affected ports. Once unloaded from the ship, it takes approximately one to two weeks for the bananas to start turning brown. We are on day three of “If the bananas on those ships reach grocery stores, they will be sold and used in banana bread,” he said.
He added that even those products delivered to the US and Canadian markets may be subject to inflationary pressures.
“In anticipation of the strike, freight rates to West Coast ports have already begun to rise, pushing up prices for incoming products. The inevitable shortage of goods will also cause prices to rise,” he added.
“The last thing the Bank of Canada wants to see right now is an inflation backup.”
He added that Canada’s auto manufacturing sector may also feel the hit.
While much of the toilet paper supply chain is domestic, Gonzalez said the United States imports one key raw material from Brazil — eucalyptus pulp — which is used to make tissue paper softer.
If the strike continues for two or three weeks, users may notice that quality begins to decline, but toilet paper will still be available on U.S. and Canadian shelves, Gonzalez said.
“Maybe the tissue paper won’t be that soft,” he said.
Gozalez said he does not expect the strike to last long. “The United States and the unions cannot afford to delay (the work stoppage) more than two weeks.”
Canada has seen dock work stoppages, with the Port of Vancouver and the Port of Montreal experiencing brief labor disputes recently.
However, the labor disputes were resolved by Thursday.
Is there similar behavior in Canada?
“We’re not aware of any immediate impacts at this time, but it (the U.S. port strike) is definitely something our retailers are monitoring,” Michelle Wasylyshyn, spokeswoman for the Retail Council of Canada, told Global News.
Wasylyshyn said they have not received any reports of toilet paper shortages or panic buying in Canada.
“The things that may be affected the most are general merchandise for the upcoming holiday shopping season. From what I understand, most retailers already have a lot of their holiday merchandise.
However, she said that since many retailers want to postpone their inventory in advance, the impact of the US strike may be exacerbated by the outage lasting longer, with the 2025 spring apparel season potentially affected.
Negotiations between the International Longshoremen’s Association and employers were not scheduled to take place, but port owners, under pressure from the White House to raise their wage offer to reach an agreement, indicated on Wednesday that they were open to new talks.
“I think we’re making progress,” Biden told reporters on Thursday, without providing details. “We’ll find out soon.”
At least 45 container ships that were unable to unload were anchored outside East Coast and Gulf Coast ports affected by the strike by Wednesday, up from just three before the strike began on Sunday, according to Everstream Analytics.
The ILA began a strike of 45,000 workers at ports from Maine to Texas, the first major work stoppage since 1977, on Tuesday after talks on a new six-year contract with the US Maritime Alliance (USMX) employer group collapsed.
The ILA is seeking a significant pay rise and commitments to halt port automation projects that it fears will eliminate jobs. USMX offered a 50 percent pay increase, but the ILA said that was insufficient to address its concerns.
“Reaching an agreement will require negotiation,” the USMX said late Wednesday.
“We cannot agree on preconditions for a return to negotiation, but we remain committed to negotiating in good faith to address the ILA’s demands and USMX concerns,” the statement read.
The Biden administration sided with the union and intensified pressure on port employers to raise their offer to secure a deal, pointing to the bumper profits the shipping industry has made since the Covid-19 pandemic.
But it has repeatedly resisted calls from trade groups and Republican lawmakers to use federal powers to stop the strike — a move that would undermine Democratic support among unions ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election.
– With files from Reuters
