Tragic Baltimore Bridge Collapse Expected to Have Minimal Impact on Apparel Shipping

Glenn Taylor
·4 min read

Search and rescue efforts have continued Wednesday for six people who are presumed dead after a container ship hit a pillar of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing its collapse.

With the Port of Baltimore no longer accepting any vessel traffic, and no timetable in place for when ships will be able to sail through to the gateway, cargo delays are expected in the northeastern U.S. as containers are rerouted to various local northeast ports.

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But for the majority of apparel retail businesses, the impact is likely going to be minimal since fashion merchandise typically comprises a small proportion of goods flowing through the Port of Baltimore.

“Baltimore’s not a big center for apparel, accounting for 0.7 percent of national imports and 3.8 percent of the northeast U.S. ports (everything from Virginia north),” Chris Rogers, head of supply chain research, S&P Global Market Intelligence, told Sourcing Journal. “We haven’t heard anything yet about cargoes being swapped elsewhere.”

Freight forwarder OEC Group, which has been suggesting clients reroute any goods headed to Baltimore to nearby ports including New York & New Jersey and Norfolk, Va., hasn’t seen much demand for assistance in redirecting cargo.

“Apparel clients, for the most part, are West Coast,” said Joseph Firrincieli, sales supervisor at OEC Group’s New York Bureau. “And a lot of them use Matson, which is an expedited service carrier, so I don’t anticipate it to affect them as much. Because like I said, most of it goes into the West Coast.”

That’s not to say there won’t be delays, particularly if more cargo is shifted to other ports which can cause wider congestion amid the volume increase. Additionally, the lack of the Francis Scott Key Bridge will also affect the movement of goods on the road, forcing delivery drivers and truckers in the area to use alternative routes, further likely escalating trucking rates.

“The tragic Key Bridge collapse will inevitably lead to delays in deliveries that go through the I-95 corridor between Washington D.C. and New York or through the Port of Baltimore,” said Andrei Quinn-Barabanov, supply chain industry practice lead at Moody’s. “Supply chain managers who get their deliveries via either of these routes need to immediately accelerate orders that are likely to be affected. Speed of action is critical.”

Amazon, the largest e-commerce retailer that sells goods across all categories, appears to be one of the companies that may have to adjust its local supply chain operations in the wake of the bridge collapse.

“We’re assessing the immediate and future impacts to our employees and delivery partners, as well as the surrounding community and will make any adjustments to our operations that are needed,” said an Amazon spokesperson. “We also stand ready to support the community in any way we can.”

Under Armour, which is headquartered in Baltimore and hosts a warehouse in nearby Sparrows Point, Md., did not respond to requests for comment.

Another company operating a distribution center near the port, FedEx, said it is closely monitoring the situation in Baltimore and has contingency plans in place to lessen any potential impacts on service.

Count Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) and Maersk as major ocean carriers that are omitting Baltimore on all their service lines “for the foreseeable future” until the passage through the Patapsco River is deemed safe. MSC estimates that this is expected to take several months.

Both container shipping giants said all customer cargo will be rerouted and discharged at alternative ports in the near term.

There is currently no timetable for how long it will take to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

The collapse’s effects are going to be more pronounced for other industries beyond apparel, given that the Port of Baltimore handled 10 percent of U.S. northeast imports in the 12 months to Jan. 31, 2024, according to S&P Global data.

The port is one of the largest handlers of specialty wheeled transport shipments (cars and trucks) in the U.S. Baltimore port’s private and public terminals handled 847,158 autos and light trucks in 2023, the most of any U.S. port.

In addition, expect more delays in shipments of wood (which comprises 39 percent of northeast ports’ imports), construction machinery (31 percent) and steel/aluminum (20 percent).

Consumer goods exposures including home appliances (16 percent) and furniture (9 percent), with the latter expecting to catch some headwinds in the form of delays and costs.

“The thing with furniture too, is a lot of it comes out of Vietnam,” said Firrincieli. “Depending on where you’re shipping out of in Vietnam, there’s only a select few carriers that even call Baltimore direct. So it’s limited on options there.”

Firrincieli told Sourcing Journal that if furniture shipments are rerouted to Norfolk, for example, conducting the process of transloading and long-haul trucking will become more expensive since you can’t palletize a piece of furniture.