Source: Financial News Agency Author: Liu Rui
① The port of Baltimore in the US is the busiest automobile transportation port in the US, and it is expected to have an impact on the supply chain of many car companies after the shutdown; ② GM, Ford, Toyota, Stellantis and many other car companies have issued statements to minimize the impact of this accident on the company's operations.
On Tuesday EST, a bridge in Baltimore in the United States collapsed, causing the port of Baltimore to be shut down for several weeks. The port is the busiest port for automobile transportation in the US, and the shutdown is expected to have an impact on the supply chains of many car companies.
After the Baltimore port was shut down, many car companies, including GM, Ford, Toyota, and Stellantis, issued statements to minimize the impact of this accident on the company's operations. However, industry insiders still believe that this incident will have an impact on the automotive supply chain.
America's busiest car port forced to shut down
According to the Maryland Port Authority, the Port of Baltimore is the busiest port for automobile transportation in the US. The port transported at least 750,000 vehicles in 2023, and motor vehicles and auto parts account for 42% of the port's total imports.
John Bozzella (John Bozzella), CEO of the automotive industry organization Alliance for Automotive Innovation (Alliance for Automotive Innovation), said that it is still too early to determine how the accident will affect the automotive industry. However, “this must be a disruptive outage... Baltimore is America's number one auto port, and we're in touch with federal officials to help them understand the size of the auto business there.”
US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (Pete Buttigieg) pointed out that the port of Baltimore is responsible for importing and exporting a large number of vehicles, and US government officials are studying the specific impact. “There is no doubt that this will have a significant and lasting impact on the supply chain.”
Shipping analyst John Kartsonas (John Kartsonas) said that Baltimore is an important shipping port for US consumer goods, automobiles, and other imported products. “Although there are many other ports that can fill the capacity gap, such as the Port of New York... it will take some time before the port can resume normal operation, so there will definitely be delays in shipping goods.”
A number of car companies speak out: efforts are being made to adopt emergency plans
On Tuesday EST, a number of car companies successively issued statements in response to the Baltimore port shutdown incident.
GM issued a statement saying, “We expect this situation to have a minimal impact on our operations. We are working to re-route all vehicles to other ports.”
Ford's Chief Financial Officer John Lawler (John Lawler) told the media that the bridge collapse and port shutdown have had an impact on Ford's supply chain and will force Ford to move parts to other ports.
“It's going to have an impact,” Lawler said. “We're going to have to move some parts to other ports... this could lengthen the supply chain.”
Ford also issued a statement saying, “Our team has identified additional shipping routes to implement necessary workarounds in the short term.”
Stellantis said the company “is discussing contingency plans with various transportation suppliers to ensure uninterrupted delivery of vehicles to customers.”
Japan's Toyota Motor Company issued a statement saying, “Although the port of Baltimore is not the main port for our North American business, this incident will definitely have an impact on our business, especially on automobile exports. Currently, we don't expect this incident to have a significant impact on our business, but we will also be closely evaluating the situation to determine its long-term impact and take countermeasures.”
Mercedes-Benz said it uses ports in Baltimore, Georgia, and South Carolina to import cars, so the Baltimore port shutdown may have an impact on its imported car routes. However, the incident had no impact on the company's automobile exports, nor on parts supply at the company's Tuscaloosa, Alabama plant. The company is closely monitoring developments.
Volvo Group said it is checking inventory at its US production facilities to determine if and when in the worst case scenario there will be an outage. The company also added that no significant impact is currently expected.
edit/lambor