Over 70 ag groups that make up the Agriculture Transportation Coalition have written to President Joe Biden outlining export shipping concerns facing U.S. agriculture. The National Association of Egg Farmers is part of that group. President Ken Klippen says a major part of what they’re seeing is the need for affordable and more shipping containers.
He says he hasn’t heard of any resolution to demurrage charges and recent shipping delays.
The cost to ship a container has increased between 300 and 500 percent in the past two years and U.S producers are losing from 10 to 40 percent of their export value. Klippen says that’s absolutely ludicrous and must be corrected.
The coalition wants several steps taken to address these export concerns including having Congress pass the Ocean Shipping Reform Act and to incentivize ocean carriers to increase export flows by fully utilizing their existing capacity
