Port Strike Appears to Trigger Panic Buying at Major Retailers Around the Country

The toilet paper aisle has become the vortex of fear-filled frenzy in America yet again.

Dockworkers at East Coast and Gulf Coast ports went on strike Tuesday in the first strike on the docks since 1977, which is expected to close 14 of America’s largest ports, according to CBS.

The beginning of the strike was soon followed by episodic and then escalating panic buying, according to WAVY-TV.

“I didn’t expect that everything was sold out — disinfectant sprays, almost like a little COVID,” Hampton Roads, Virginia, resident Elizabeth Hollis said.

No one questions the impact of the strike on imports, but toilet paper and paper towels are mostly made in America.

Still, the longer the strike lasts, the more supplies of many things will go down as prices rise.

“I want the community to start preparing,” said George Berry, who heads the For Truckers by Truckers advocacy group.

“I want them to go get essentials. Not, you don’t have to rush, panic buy, but I do want them to have essentials at their house. Toilet paper, paper towels, things of that nature,” he said.

They cleaned out the toilet paper at my local Walmart in Virginia. Toilet paper hoarding 2.0! pic.twitter.com/Ai0wcb1VCN

— Jennifer (@BaumgartlJ) October 2, 2024

Ryan Sunderlin, a buyer at Coosemans Philadelphia, said price increases are guaranteed, according to WTXF-TV.

“You’re seeing anywhere from a 20 to 200 percent increase in pricing due to the scarcity, knowing you won’t be able to get any in who knows how long,” Sunderlin said.

“It’s going to increase the price of food, fruits and vegetables, anything that is on ship that can’t be loaded in a timely manner,” said Mark Levin, the CEO of M. Levin & Company Inc.

Which means, it might be time to bid bananas goodbye for now, according to CNN.

Almost all of America’s bananas are imported, with most coming through ports that are being shuttered by the strike. Given that it takes about two weeks for bananas to make the trip from being picked to being beyond the pale for consumption, what’s in stores now might not soon be replaced.

Wilmington, Delaware, one port being closed by the strike, processes about a quarter of the nation’s banana imports.

Other product shortages will appear depending upon how long the strike lasts.

“Within two to three weeks you should start seeing shortages,” said Andrew Coggins, a clinical professor of management and management science at Pace University’s Lubin School of Business, according to CBS.

“It is a big deal, especially if it lasts for a long time, because so much of what we use on a daily basis has at some point in its life traveled by ship or by water, or at least, some components,” he said.

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