Shipping prices ease as US port strike ends, but unresolved issues could spark fresh action in January 

JUST over a week after US dockworkers ended their strike, congestion is easing at East Coast ports and shipping rates are expected to fall in the coming weeks.

Proposed congestion surcharges have been called off. When strikes ended on Oct 3, media reports estimated that the backlog of ships and containers would take two to three weeks to clear.

Yet this may not be the end of the troubles. The strike-ending agreement is a tentative one, ending on Jan 15, and does not address all of the union’s demands – particularly those on automation.