The Unsung Role of the West Coast’s Smaller Container Ports
Media coverage of U.S. containerized trade through the nation’s Pacific Coast ports is typically limited to the three principal U.S. West Coast maritime gateways. But there are other USWC ports that traffic in TEUs. California’s Port Hueneme and the Port of San Diego handle significant volumes of inbound containerized cargo. Last year, Port Hueneme handled 11.7% of all containerized imports of Edible Fruits & Nuts that entered the United States by sea. The Port of San Diego had a 5.7% share of that same trade. Collectively, these two ports along with others like Washington State’s Port Everett brought the total USWC share of containerized import tonnage up from 32.9% to 34.6% this May.
The role of the USWC’s smaller ports is even higher on the export side of the containerized export side, where the Big Five USWC ports accounted for 97.2% of all containerized export tonnage last year. With the smaller ports filling in the remaining 2.8% of the USWC’s containerized export trade.
As for non-containerized exports, the Port of Kalama on the Washington State side of the Columbia River routinely handles more outbound tonnage than the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach combined. Kalama, along with the nearby Ports of Longview, Vancouver (WA), and Portland are major conduits for U.S. grain exports. Last year, the Port of Kalama shipped 14,797,167 metric tons of non-containerized cargo, while the volume shipped from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach amounted to 8,824,879 metric tons.
In terms of the declared value of non-containerized exports, the two Southern California ports easily top the Port of Kalama, with shipments last year valued at $7.026 billion as opposed to the $3.543 billion exported from the Washington State port.
Oregon's International Port of Coos Bay (IPCB) will not take business away from the struggling Port of Portland anytime soon, but Oregon state officials and congressional representatives have decided to plow millions of dollars into laying the foundation for a large container port on the state's mid-coast. The proposed port would take the shape of a ship-to-rail container terminal that would open a new international freight gateway from the U.S. West Coast to the Midwest. The project is being supported by Oregon's Governor Tina Kotek, and U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley. The Port of Prince Rupert seems to be their model. A remote port that the Coos Bay supporters see as a "thriving megaport" even though the volume of containers passing through the British Columbia port in the first half of this year is down 22.6% in 2019. No one at the local level involved in this proposed seaport has any demonstrable experience with operating anything larger than a marina. To help flesh out the scheme, the IPCB has retained Points Consulting, a Moscow, Idaho firm with no evident experience with large port development or international maritime trade.