11:43 AM EDT, 03/26/2024 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates with the bridge collapse's impact on the automotive supply chain in the fifth and sixth paragraphs.)

The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday likely will worsen global trade flows, a shipping analyst told Bloomberg.

Emily Stausboll, an analyst with shipping-analytics company Xeneta, said shippers in the Far East and on the US East Coast have already been hurt by dry weather along the Panama Canal and attacks in the Red Sea. Shipping rates have increased by 150%, she said.

The collapse of the Baltimore bridge will exacerbate concerns about shipping, Stausboll was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.

While ships will be temporarily redirected to ports in New York and Virginia, port capacity is limited. How quickly vessels already inbound to Baltimore can be diverted to alternate sites and when containers in Baltimore ports are still in question, she said.

The bridge collapse will also disrupt the automotive supply chain in the US, Bloomberg reported separately.

"It's a large port with a lot of flow through it, so it's going to have an impact," Ford Motor ( F ) Chief Financial Officer John Lawler said Tuesday on Bloomberg TV. "We'll have to divert parts to other ports along the East Coast or elsewhere in the country."

(Market Chatter news is derived from conversations with market professionals globally. This information is believed to be from reliable sources but may include rumor and speculation. Accuracy is not guaranteed.)

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