The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A BAHAMIAN shipping executive says the devastation that Hurricane Ian has inflicted on western and central Florida will only worsen existing supply chain and logistics challenges for the entire Caribbean region.

Michael Hall, managing director of Bahamas Maritime Logistics Service (BMLS), told Tribune Business: “You have to take into consideration with the US and how they handle their oil reserves. When they have to dip into their oil reserves they hold back, and right now, because Fort Myers is destroyed along with other parts of Florida, you are going to have a reduction in the exports of raw materials because they have to take care of their own first.”

The US putting America first, especially when it comes to construction materials and other goods required to rebuild Florida, will exacerbate existing shipping challenges with freight coming out of China and Europe, he added. Mr Hall said: “We saw even before COVID- 19 the cost of concrete and plywood go up by 100 percent. Getting those items from the US or wherever you are getting it, from the cost is going to be high.

“Just think about it. During the pandemic, construction in The Bahamas never stopped. It maintained its levels because the hotels and homes were still up, and that means the demand for carpentry and raw materials and product were up, so imagine in the US. This indicates that the price for goods is going to remain high.”

With high taxation (import tariffs and VAT) at the Bahamian border in addition to shipping costs, Mr Hall does not see the price of imported goods lowering any time soon. As for shipping “bottlenecks”, he added: “In some ways, the shipping has eased up across all the major shipping ports, but in New York, California, Panama, they still have bottlenecking, which basically means there’s still a lot of ships that are still off port that are waiting to be worked.

“It has eased up a little bit in the past few months, of course. But, as you know, shipping out of China and Europe, trade lines are still very difficult due to the [Russia/Ukraine] war, and just the overall supply chain demand is high for products.”