Farmers Have A Big Problem On Their Hands: They Can't Find A Way To Ship Their Stuff

https://www.npr.org/2021/07/23/ [login to see] /farmers-have-a-big-problem-on-their-hands-they-cant-find-a-way-to-ship-their-stu
Bob Sinner, a specialty soybean producer in North Dakota, has a major problem on his hands: He has plenty of beans, but he's struggling to ship them to his customers overseas, and his deliveries are running at least a month and a half behind schedule.

"We've had customers in Asia that have had to stop their operations waiting for supply," Sinner says. "Our farmers need to get their storage facilities emptied because we have a new crop that's coming in September, October. We have to get this product moving."

The same cargo traffic jams that have frustrated American importers are also plaguing exporters.

Shippers are delivering record volumes of back-to-school supplies and fall fashions from Asia to the West Coast. Typically, those containers travel to North Dakota or other points in the middle of the country to be filled with U.S. exports.

But today, instead of carrying soybeans and other American products back across the Pacific as usual, many of the containers are going back empty as shippers rush to bring in even more imports.