Because of the port strike, people are buying toilet paper in a panic. There is no need for that

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CNN
—

Toilet paper shortages in stores across America are bringing back nightmare memories for people during the pandemic. However, the toilet paper shortage is not a direct result of a major port strike on Tuesday. It's because of panic buying.

Reports of shortages filled social media on Tuesday, showing empty shelves where there should be toilet paper and, to a lesser extent, paper towels.

“They cleaned out the toilet paper at my local Walmart in Virginia. “Toilet paper hoarding 2.0!” one person wrote in a post on X, along with a photo of empty shelves.

“The shelves at Costco & Target in Monmouth County, New Jersey are running low or out of paper towels,” another X user wrote. “I see people also buying TP and water because of the port strike. A Costco employee told me they were out of paper towels/towels this morning.”

But the strike at ports from Maine to Texas will have no impact on the supply of these products.

The overwhelming majority – by some estimates, more than 90% – of toilet paper consumption in the United States comes from domestic factories. Most of the rest comes from Canada and Mexico, meaning it most likely arrives by train or truck rather than ship.

The American Forest and Paper Association, the paper manufacturers' trade group, expressed concerns about the impact the port strike could have on its members. However, it cited the risk that its exports to foreign markets would be disrupted by the strike. No imports.

If anything, the strike could lead to a glut of toilet paper. No defect.

But that didn't stop people's mob psyche from rushing to stockpile out of fear of a shortage, fed by bad memories of shortages and purchasing restrictions that occurred in 2020 during the pandemic.

The port strike is likely to cause some shortages, particularly of perishable goods for which the U.S. market relies on imports. Number one is bananas.

According to the American Farm Bureau, imports account for nearly 100% of the U.S. supply of bananas, America's most popular fruit by volume, and more than half of banana imports come through the ports affected early Tuesday morning. More than a quarter of imports come through just one port in Wilmington, Delaware.

These bananas only have a short shelf life. It only takes a few weeks from the time a banana tree is cut down to when it appears on grocery shelves, and it takes less than two weeks for it to turn brown or black on your kitchen counter. Therefore, shippers were unable to ship large quantities before the strike.

Toilet paper is the opposite of a perishable commodity. Any toilet paper hoarded today will last until the next round of panic buying, even if that happens years from now. Almost none of this happened to the ports that are closed today.