US AGRICULTURE complains that weak imports from Asia is creating a shortage of containers compromising the ability of American farmers to ship to ship produce to Asia and Europe, reports New York's Journal of Commerce.

The agricultural sector blame the equipment shortage on the almost 17 per cent decline in US imports from Asia through the first 10 months of the year.

Containerised imports that move inland to population centres such as Chicago, Dallas and Kansas City provide the boxes that are unloaded and repositioned to export facilities in those regions to be refilled with agricultural commodities.

Bruce Abbe, a consultant to agricultural interests in the upper Midwest, said the equipment shortages have emerged over the past two weeks and will probably worsen now that the fall harvest is in.

"With the peak ag export shipping now kicking into high gear for the next few months, yes, there is a bit of angst and worry that container issues may crop up again," said Mr Abbe.

A spike in blank sailings from Asia to the US west and east coasts is exacerbating the equipment shortage by disrupting shipping schedules.

When transpacific carriers increased their blank sailings in August to prevent spot rates from collapsing, it was apparent that container shortages would develop in the interior as the volume of import containers continued to decline, said Hayden Swofford, administrator of the Pacific Northwest Asia Shippers Association.

"It was predictable," he said. "Imports predicate everything."

Chicago is the area of greatest concern, said April Zobel, profit centre manager at the agribusiness company The Andersons, although the container shortages there are just beginning to emerge.

"Chicago is the market that is most affected, although we can still execute there. The Ohio Valley is okay," Ms Zobel said.