The Port of Baltimore, a significant shipping point for U.S. sugar imports, suspended traffic Tuesday after a container ship slammed into and collapsed the Francis Scott Key Bridge, shutting the main channel leading into the Chesapeake Bay.
ASR Group, which owns the Domino Sugar refinery at Baltimore, said the port closure would have no immediate impact on the plant’s operations.
“The Baltimore Refinery has six to eight weeks of raw sugar supply on hand with a ship currently discharging at the refinery’s dock and another that finished unloading on Monday, March 25,” the company said in a statement to Agri-Pulse. ”ASR Group also owns a network of production facilities and has warehouses across the U.S. that all currently have healthy inventories of finished products and can be utilized if necessary.”
ASR's nine companies include Domino, C&H Sugar, Tate & Lyle Sugars and Redpath Sugar.
The port said in a statement Tuesday, "Vessel traffic into and out of the Port of Baltimore is suspended until further notice. This does not mean the Port of Baltimore is closed. Trucks are being processed within our marine terminals."
The bridge collapse comes at a time when U.S. sugar supplies have been relatively tight, leading USDA to recently announce an increase in import quotas.
According to USDA shipping data, more than 575,000 metric tons of sugar were unloaded in Baltimore in 2022. Grain products, coffee and beer were the next largest agricultural imports there.
Just under 200,000 metric tons of soybeans were exported through Baltimore in 2022, the largest commodity shipped through that port by far that year, according to USDA.
Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition, noted in an email that Baltimore is a major port for import and export of motor vehicles and that the accident points to the vulnerability of the shipping infrastructure.
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“While the Port of Baltimore is not a significant port region for soybeans and grain, it obviously is a significant resource for the broader economy," he said. "It also underscores the reality that while our oceans are vast and expansive, the ports that serve as the origins and destinations for global commerce can be vulnerable – whether due to weather, accident, or attack."
“Investing in, maintaining, and securing these essential links in our national and global economy must remain a national priority.”
President Joe Biden said Tuesday afternoon that the Army Corps of Engineers would lead the effort to clear the channel.
"The search-and-rescue operation is our top priority. Ship traffic in the Port of Baltimore has been suspended until further notice. And we’ll need to clear that channel before the ship traffic can resume," he said.
A major maritime union, the Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association, said in a statement that the disaster "highlights the need for strong safety standards in the global maritime industry that fall short of those in the U.S. merchant marine. While we continue to learn more about what happened on this tragic day, all global ship operators must avoid future accidents contributed by poor working and operating standards that utilize minimum crewing for profit at the expense of human life and safety.”
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