Port congestion and shipping delays made dairy exports extremely challenging in 2021, and one industry insider anticipates those challenges will continue in 2022.

Leprino Foods is heavily reliant on port infrastructure, capacity and supply-chain integration across the port-export system, and those dynamics didn’t change in 2021, said Mark Benson, chief procurement officer and vice president of government affairs and global responsibility at Leprino.

“What did change was the overall capacity, the reliability and the consistency of port operations, of carrier and container capacity and really the overall velocity of the localized supply chain in and around the port, particularly out of California,” he said during the latest “Dairy Download” podcast.

More than 99% of Leprino’s ocean shipments in 2021 were canceled or rebooked at least once if not twice — and in some cases more than 10 times. Each time that happened, the “rework loop” was generally two to three weeks in duration and came with added costs and fees, Benson said.

More than 100 bookings were canceled or rebooked 17 times, with customers experiencing a five-month delay for products they’re depending on, he said.

“On the cost side, it’s been a big challenge,” he said.

One freight bill that would generally be $5,000 to $5,500 reached $20,000. Leprino experienced more than $25 million in added costs in that area in 2021 and expects the same in 2022, he said.

Leprino and other dairy exporters have been active in exploring different and alternative ports with some progress. But in some cases, that just moved the problem, he said.

Some are of the opinion the port issue will ultimately equalize or resolve itself, he said.

“We’re not observing that, and we don’t share that view. In fact, there were folks who were making that point six months ago,” Benson said.

In addition to utilizing alternative ports, Leprino has doubled down on establishing prepositioned inventory and logistics hubs in the international markets it serves. It’s also added labor, team members and additional reporting capability for every step of the booking and fulfillment process and routing of a shipment on the water and into its intended market, he said.

Leprino expects shipping backlogs to be the case in 2022 and potentially beyond. But there are some things that can be done, particularly on policy, he said.

“First, we need carrier lines to honor export bookings. We need them to do that instead of sailing back to Asia with empty containers,” Benson said.

The Ocean Shipping Reform Act passed in the House addresses some of the fees and charges. But there’s opportunity for more immediate action on carriers sailing with empty containers through an executive order or other types of implementations, he said.

“We need more proactive and coordinated solutions to really unlock the constraints that are actionable right now,” he said.

All ports should be running 24 hours a day seven days a week. If a labor constraint or some other factor is preventing that, it needs to be proactively addressed and resolved because that unlocks infrastructure capacity that’s achievable now, he said.

Another thing that needs to be addressed is the fundamental driver shortage that has been an issue for a long time. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act offers some support in training younger drivers to be able to cross state lines, but more needs to be done, he said.