The world's biggest fertilizer producer Nutrien Ltd cut production on Tuesday, citing the impact of an 11-day-old strike in Canada's Pacific ports whose cost has now ballooned to an estimated C$5.5 billion ($4.2 billion).
Some 7,500 dock workers represented by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) walked off on July 1 after failing to agree a new wage deal with the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA).
The union says the BCMEA is refusing to give a fair pay increase despite making billions of dollars in profits in recent years. The association says it is negotiating in good faith while blaming the strike for damaging trade and the economy.
The strike has upended operations at two of Canada's three busiest ports, the Port of Vancouver and the Port of Prince Rupert - key gateways for exporting the country's natural resources and commodities and bringing in raw materials.
Nutrien blamed the Port of Vancouver work stoppage for lowering export capacity at its Cory potash mine in Saskatchewan and warned of further production impacts if the walkout is prolonged.
The strike could trigger more supply-chain disruptions and fuel inflation, economists have warned, just as the central bank is trying to cool the economy. The Bank of Canada is widely expected to raise its key interest rate on Wednesday by 25 basis points to 5%.
More than half of Canadian small business owners say the strike at the Port of Vancouver will affect their operations, according to preliminary survey results from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) released on Tuesday.
The strike so far has cost an estimated C$5.5 billion, based on industry body Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters calculation of about C$500 million in disrupted trade every day.
The two parties met in person for the first time in more than a week on Monday night, a government source not authorized to speak on the record said.
They were joined by Senator Hassan Yussuf, a former president of the Canadian Labour Congress who helped negotiate an end to the largest public sector strike ever in April and May, the source said.
In statements late on Monday, both sides blamed each other for failing to reach a new deal. The association said its proposals to addresses ILWU Canada's demand to expand the union's jurisdiction over regular maintenance work on terminals were rejected by the union.
The workers and their employers had walked away from negotiations last week, but resumed talks on Saturday.
($1 = 1.3246 Canadian dollars)
(Reuters - Reporting by Ismail Shakil and Steve Scherer; additional reporting by Arshreet Singh; Editing by Conor Humphries and Susan Heavey)
