By Karen Robes Meeks
Port of Oakland leaders predict a five-year run of record cargo volume starting next year.
The Northern California facility anticipates moving 2.6 million TEUs annually by 2022, eight percent more than the port has ever processed in a single year, according to the Strategic Maritime Roadmap released by the port in early August.
It also forecasts a record volume of more than 2.4 million cargo containers in 2018.
The Roadmap predicts that the growth will come from more cargo arriving to the port in larger ships as well as Oakland’s burgeoning freight market with its new logistics capabilities, such as distribution centers and freight transfer facilities. The port foresees ships calling to Oakland would be 35 percent larger within 15 years and bring up to 18,000 containers.
“We’re serving a thriving area and developing new services for our customers,” said Oakland’s Maritime Director John Driscoll. “The combination should be positive for everyone who relies on the Port for their business or their job.”
The roadmap also details a commercial strategy that calls for bolstering its US Midwest meat and grain exports, attracting more auto imports; drawing containerized cargo to a new refrigerated distribution center and its Seaport Logistics Complex; and pushing for 15 percent more import cargo that comes to the port and is loaded on rails for inland distribution.