Mazda May Temporarily Reroute Baltimore Auto Shipments

Mazda Motor will probably have to temporarily move shipments to another port from Baltimore to avoid delays, the automaker's CEO said in a CNBC interview.

The Port of Baltimore ranks first in the U.S. for volume of autos and light trucks and farm and construction machinery handled and a cargo ship crash into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March has restricted shipments.

However, CEO Masahiro Moro said Mazda does not currently expect a big impact from the port shutdown.

U.S. automakers General Motors and Ford have said they would reroute the affected shipments.

Most of the traffic remain suspended, though some terminal operations outside the affected area have resumed.

Earlier this month, Mazda posted a near 13% rise in first-quarter U.S. sales to 100,103 units from a year earlier.

(Reuters - Reporting by Nathan Gomes; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)