World Trade - October 2008 - (Page 45)

Los Angeles Los Angeles gel UNITED STATES T San Diego Tijuana j Mexicali Ensenada Future site of Port of Punta Colonet North Pacific Ocean Baja California Norte San Quintin Puerto Penasco Nogales Hermosillo Isla Cedros Santa Rosalia Guaymas Cuidad Obregon Gulf of Calif California C lifornia forni Loret Loreto Loreto British Columbia’s Port of Prince Rupert is closer to Asia than any other West Coast port by three days and boasts the deepest natural harbor in North America. Port of Prince Rupert every morning and afternoon. A seemingly small concession, but one that speaks volumes as to the willingness on behalf of the union to accept that the West Coast will one day no longer have a stranglehold on Asian imports and everyone in the supply chain will be required to improve productivity in order to remain competitive. In fact, competition is not only starting to come from East Coast seaports, but Canada and Mexico too. Last year, China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) began calling the Port of Prince Rupert in British Columbia. The port is closer to Asia than any other West Coast port by three days, boasts the deepest natural harbor in North America, and has plenty of room to expand. Rail service is being provided by Canadian National from Prince Rupert to key markets, such as Chicago and Memphis. During the ﬁrst half of this year, the port handled 42,555 TEUs. In July, three of the four CKYH alliance members— COSCO, Yang Ming, and Hanjin—added a second weekly string to the port. The second service also uses 8,200-TEU vessels, rather than the 5,400-TEU vessels deployed on the initial service. Future plans call for quadrupling the capacity of the container terminal to 2 million TEUs by 2012 to meet growing demand, and work on phase two will begin early next year, say port ofﬁcials. Meanwhile, Mexican President Felipe Calderon announced in late August that the government would begin taking bids to develop a $4.88 billion port complex at Punta Colonet, which is located 150 miles south of San Diego in Baja California. The project also includes development of a new airport, highways, and a rail link to the U.S., all intended to provide U.S. shippers with an alternative gateway for Asian imports. It’s expected that the port will become operational approximately three years after the contracts are awarded and will have a handling capacity of 6 million TEUs annually. Like the Port of Prince Rupert, the Port of Punta Colonet will have plenty of room to expand from its initial 205-acre footprint. Furthermore, the Mexican government is also planning to expand the Port of Veracruz, the second-largest container terminal in that country. Not to be forgotten is the ongoing construction taking place at the Panama Canal. Work on expanding the canal started last year and is expected to be completed in 2014, and includes building a new lane for vessel trafﬁc and a new set of locks, which will double capacity and allow for longer and wider ships. Shippers are also bracing for added fees. Effective October 1, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will start charging $35 per TEU for containers that are hauled by “older” trucks that don’t meet the new emission standards of the ports’ Clean Air Action Plan. The goal is to replace 16,800 trucks over the next ﬁve years with cleaner models, while simultaneously making it easier for the ports to meet stricter environmental standards that are required before further expansion and development can take place. It’s important to note that shippers have generally been accepting of this fee, as they understand the environmental beneﬁts and compromises that must be made before the ports can expand. Port ofﬁcials from around the country Once constructed, Mexico’s Port of Punta Colonet will offer importers of Asian cargo an alternative gateway to U.S. West Coast ports. WWW.WORLDTRADEMAG.COM 45 http://WWW.WORLDTRADEMAG.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of World Trade - October 2008

World Trade - October 2008 Contents Tune Up Your Supply Chain Globalization: The Real Competitive Threat Supply Chain Watch Tradewinds Shippers and Providers Collaborate to Take on a Challenging Economy Tweaking the Supply Chain to Optimize Value and Minimize Cost Supply Chain Software Morphs Into Enterprise Management Can Warehousing Really, Truly Be Strategic? Everybody is Global Between the Devil and the Deep The Hidden Costs of ‘Free’ Translation Blowing Smoke

World Trade - October 2008

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