The Port of Oakland in California, US has announced its partnership with the federal government to provide financial aid to agricultural exporters.
The intent, according to the port’s announcement, is to ease the pain of a year-long supply chain disruption that’s impeding farm trade.
The port noted that restoration of vessel service is very important to resolving Oakland’s supply chain challenges, as several ocean carriers have been skipping Oakland due to vessel logjams in Southern California.
“Our partnership with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to open a temporary pop-up yard will go a long way in helping ag exporters,” said Port of Oakland maritime director, Bryan Brandes, who added, “At the same time, we still need the shipping lines to bring back vessel service to Oakland to address the high demand of export volume.”
Port of Oakland said that USDA would make direct payments to farm producers shipping overseas, adding that the programme is available to exporters using container ports in Oakland, Seattle, or Tacoma.
Below, you can find the details of the programme:
- The USDA would pay agricultural shippers US$200 for every container of farm goods they export.
- Exporters using refrigerated containers for perishable commodities would receive US$400 per container.
- Exporters would receive an extra US$125 for every empty container they pick up at a designated Oakland storage depot.
USDA payments are intended to offset soaring shipping costs resulting from global supply chain breakdowns and the expense of additional container moves, according to the port of Oakland.
“Both the Port of Oakland and the Northwest Seaport Alliance in Seattle have been identified as key gateways for American-grown agricultural commodities, and each has experienced significant challenges with the flow of containerised agricultural commodities and products,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a recent USDA press release.
USDA payments mark Oakland’s second collaboration with the federal government in the past year. In 2021, the Californian port and USDA established an Oakland depot to distribute empty containers to agricultural exporters.
The USDA said its export payment programme would continue throughout the year. Exporters would need to submit payment applications by next January to receive reimbursements.
According to the USDA, the commodities that would be eligible for payments are agricultural commodities (other than tobacco) that are grown or produced in the US for food, feed, or fiber, and products made from those commodities, including certain forestry products.
