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during the european session on tuesday (september 24), maersk class b shares traded in denmark rose by nearly 4.9% at one point, reaching its highest level since august 2. the share price has risen by nearly 20% in the past two weeks.

today, the world's largest shipping giant announced that it has decided to impose a "local port disruption surcharge" on all cargoes traveling to and from the east coast and gulf coast of the united states to compensate for the high costs caused by "potential labor disruptions."

last week, the international longshoremen's association (ila) accused the united states shipping alliance (usmx) of underpaying workers and threatened to strike if a new agreement was not reached before the contract expires on september 30.

“my members have been preparing for the possibility of a strike for over a year,” ila president harold daggett wrote in a statement. “if a new contract agreement is not in place, the sleeping giant will roar on october 1, 2024.”

according to media reports, the expiring contract covers all ports between maine and texas, involving about 60% of us shipping volume, and their closure will have a "devastating impact" on the us economy.

last friday, a spokesperson for the port authority of new york and new jersey told the media that the port authority is "coordinating with partners throughout the supply chain to address any impacts that may result." "we urge both sides to find common ground to keep goods flowing and boost the national economy."

but as of monday, the differences between the ila and usmx still appeared to be very large, with both sides issuing conflicting statements about their willingness to negotiate. usmx said it had tried several times to reach out to the ila and resume negotiations, "but we have not been able to schedule a meeting."

earlier this month, mediterranean shipping company (msc) took the lead in notifying its customers that it would charge an "emergency operating surcharge" for containers starting october 1. afterwards, well-known shipping companies such as cma cgm and hapag-lloyd also followed suit with similar surcharges.

source: hapag-lloyd official website

for shipping lines including maersk, potential strikes would deepen the disruption to global trade seen in recent years, and they would raise freight rates they charge customers, as they did during the coronavirus pandemic and the red sea bypass.

maersk said that even if the us strike lasts only one week, it could have a huge impact on the supply chain, causing four to six weeks of disruption. grace zwemmer, assistant economist at the oxford economics institute, said in the report that "a two-week strike could disrupt the supply chain until 2025."

today, peter sand, chief analyst at shipping pricing platform xeneta, said, "the consequences will be very serious. billions of dollars of goods are currently on the sea heading to the united states, and these ships cannot turn around or sail to the west coast of the united states."