GM and Ford to divert shipments to Baltimore after bridge collapse By Reuters

By David Shepardson

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. automakers General Motors (NYSE and Ford (NYSE ) will divert affected shipments after a U.S. bridge collapse closed the port of Baltimore, but the companies said on Tuesday that the impact will be minimal.

“We expect the situation to have minimal impact on our operations. We are working to divert any vehicle shipments to other ports,” GM said in a statement.

The Port of Baltimore is the busiest U.S. port for shipping automobiles, and will handle at least 750,000 vehicles in 2023, according to data from the Maryland Port Administration. Motor vehicles and their parts accounted for 42% of all imports to the Port of Baltimore.

Ford Chief Financial Officer John Lawler said the bridge collapse, which occurred after a container ship crashed into the four-lane bridge early Tuesday, will force the automaker to divert parts to other ports and will impact your supply chain.

“It's going to have an impact,” Lawler told Bloomberg News. “We will have to divert parts to other ports… It will probably lengthen the supply chain a little bit.”

Ford told Reuters in a separate statement that “where solutions are necessary in the near term, our team has already secured shipping alternatives.”

Industry officials said it was too early to say what impact the accident will have on the auto sector.

“But there will certainly be disruption,” said John Bozella, executive director of the automotive trade group Alliance for Automotive Innovation. “Baltimore is the number one automotive port in the U.S. and we are in contact with federal officials to help them understand the scale of automotive operations there.”

Rescuers pulled out two survivors, one of whom remains hospitalized, and were searching the Patapsco River for more after huge spans of the 1.6-mile (2.57 km) Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed into the water.

Breakwave Advisors Managing Partner John Kartsonas, a shipping analyst and investor, said Baltimore is a major port for imports of consumer goods, automobiles and other imports.

“There are many other areas that can pick up the slack, such as New York Harbor and even Savannah, Georgia,” he said in an email. “The situation will take some time to resolve and return to normal operations, so there will certainly be delays in deliveries of goods.”

Other transportation companies did not report any major impact.

“While Baltimore is not a major port for our North American operations, there will be some impact, primarily on vehicle exports.” toyota (NYSE:) said in a statement. “At this time, we do not anticipate a significant disruption, but we are evaluating the situation closely to determine long-term impact and countermeasures.”

Volkswagen (ETR:) Group of America said it was not affected because its Baltimore facility is located on the east coast of the collapsed bridge, while Nissan (OTC:) said it did not expect a significant impact at this time.

BMW (ETR:) said the car docks are located on the ocean side of the port, so no major impact was expected as the bridge collapse will not affect ships. He added that overland truck traffic would be diverted.

Mercedes said the incident has had no impact on vehicle exports or parts supply from the company's plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and that it was monitoring the situation. He said he uses ports in Baltimore, as well as Georgia and South Carolina, to import vehicles.

Volvo (OTC Group, which makes trucks, construction equipment and engines, said it was reviewing its inventory at its U.S. production facilities to see if and when there could be a worst-case disruption, adding which currently does not expect major disruptions.impact.