By Karen Robes Meeks
With more than 87,000 Ford vehicles shipped out last year, the Port of Portland still reigns as the top US West Coast port for auto exports, according to the latest statistics released Monday. The port also handled up to 314,000 vehicles last year, 7.8 percent more when compared to 2016.
The Portland port is a major part in the supply chain for vehicle manufacturing. US-made cars come by rail from the assembly line to the port, where they travel on roll-on/roll-off ships headed to Asia. Import vehicles such as Hyundais, Toyotas, and Hondas come to Portland before they are distributed to dealerships across the West Coast.
“Our export boom highlights the strong demand for American-made cars in Asia,” said Keith Leavitt, the Port’s chief commercial officer. “This positive trend translates into more than 600 direct local jobs for dockworkers, processors and others working in our supply chain.”
To foster its export vehicle business, the port and its tenant Auto Warehousing Company expanded auto staging space in the Rivergate Industrial District near Terminal 6 last year.
Showing posts with label Rivergate Industrial District. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rivergate Industrial District. Show all posts
Friday, March 16, 2018
Friday, August 26, 2016
Port of Portland Awarded Expansion Grant
By Mark Edward Nero
The Port of Portland and tenant Auto Warehousing Co. have been awarded a $2.6 million grant by the Oregon Department of Transportation to partially fund a $7 million expansion of auto handling facilities in the Rivergate Industrial District near Terminal 6, the port said Aug. 22.
Plans call for Auto Warehousing to develop a new 18.9-acre storage and staging yard to support the continued growth of export vehicles.
Auto Warehousing leased 130 acres at Terminal 6 in 2005 and currently handles the import of Hyundai vehicles into the US and the export of Ford vehicles manufactured in North America bound for China and Korea.
Export volumes have grown steadily in the last several years, bringing the total vehicles moved by Auto Warehousing to 126,000 in the last 12 months. Across the Port of Portland marine terminals, auto shipments were up 14 percent during the previous fiscal year, which ended in June.
Last week, the Portland Port Commission approved a lease to Auto Warehousing for the expansion lot with an initial eight-year term and four five-year options. If all options are exercised, the lease would extend to April 2045.
The port committed $871,300 to the project with the tenant providing matching funds of $3.5 million. That amount, along with the $2.6 million state grant, equals the project’s total $7 million cost.
“Exports are the real success story,” the Port of Portland’s director of marine marketing, Sebastian Degens said, “not just for the Port of Portland, but for the whole American automobile industry. International export is a boost to the economy here, as well as in the heartland where the manufacturing takes place.”
The Port of Portland and tenant Auto Warehousing Co. have been awarded a $2.6 million grant by the Oregon Department of Transportation to partially fund a $7 million expansion of auto handling facilities in the Rivergate Industrial District near Terminal 6, the port said Aug. 22.
Plans call for Auto Warehousing to develop a new 18.9-acre storage and staging yard to support the continued growth of export vehicles.
Auto Warehousing leased 130 acres at Terminal 6 in 2005 and currently handles the import of Hyundai vehicles into the US and the export of Ford vehicles manufactured in North America bound for China and Korea.
Export volumes have grown steadily in the last several years, bringing the total vehicles moved by Auto Warehousing to 126,000 in the last 12 months. Across the Port of Portland marine terminals, auto shipments were up 14 percent during the previous fiscal year, which ended in June.
Last week, the Portland Port Commission approved a lease to Auto Warehousing for the expansion lot with an initial eight-year term and four five-year options. If all options are exercised, the lease would extend to April 2045.
The port committed $871,300 to the project with the tenant providing matching funds of $3.5 million. That amount, along with the $2.6 million state grant, equals the project’s total $7 million cost.
“Exports are the real success story,” the Port of Portland’s director of marine marketing, Sebastian Degens said, “not just for the Port of Portland, but for the whole American automobile industry. International export is a boost to the economy here, as well as in the heartland where the manufacturing takes place.”
Thursday, January 26, 2012
TEU, Tonnage Numbers Jump at Port of Portland
For the second straight year, the Port of Portland handled the third-most tonnage in its history, as 2011 totals improved upon results for 2010. Year-end reports show a two percent increase, with 13.37 million tons handled compared to 13.12 million the year before.
Growth was driven primarily by container volumes, which improved by nine percent, going from 181,100 twenty-foot equivalent units in 2010 to 197,446 TEUs last year.
Full export containers grew by 27 percent, representing a jump in demand for regional products heading overseas.
The growth is partially accounted for by the February 2011 start of a 25-year lease of the port’s container terminal to ICTSI Oregon, which over the course of the year also helped full container imports improve by five percent to 92,785 for the year.
Aside from containers however, most other cargo categories stayed flat or showed minor declines in 2011.
Grain remained essentially unchanged at 4.7 million tons. Mineral bulks – primarily potash used in fertilizer and soda ash used in glass production – dropped by half of a percent, to 5.2 million tons.
Break bulk, mostly steel slab and steel rail, dipped 2.6 percent for the year to 941,120 tons.
Auto imports also lagged; the 234,048 vehicles handled by Portland in 2011 was an 11.5 percent year-over-year decrease. The port attributes the decline to multiple global factors, including effects of the earthquakes and tsunami in Japan and recent flooding in Thailand.
The disruptions to auto parts suppliers caused domino effects throughout the supply chain at factories, ports and dealerships.
The downward trend could turn around this year however, as Portland recently began exporting Ford vehicles to South Korea for the first time and Subaru has finished construction on a 413,000-square-foot facility in the port’s Rivergate Industrial District that includes auto parts distribution, a service training center and regional offices.
Growth was driven primarily by container volumes, which improved by nine percent, going from 181,100 twenty-foot equivalent units in 2010 to 197,446 TEUs last year.
Full export containers grew by 27 percent, representing a jump in demand for regional products heading overseas.
The growth is partially accounted for by the February 2011 start of a 25-year lease of the port’s container terminal to ICTSI Oregon, which over the course of the year also helped full container imports improve by five percent to 92,785 for the year.
Aside from containers however, most other cargo categories stayed flat or showed minor declines in 2011.
Grain remained essentially unchanged at 4.7 million tons. Mineral bulks – primarily potash used in fertilizer and soda ash used in glass production – dropped by half of a percent, to 5.2 million tons.
Break bulk, mostly steel slab and steel rail, dipped 2.6 percent for the year to 941,120 tons.
Auto imports also lagged; the 234,048 vehicles handled by Portland in 2011 was an 11.5 percent year-over-year decrease. The port attributes the decline to multiple global factors, including effects of the earthquakes and tsunami in Japan and recent flooding in Thailand.
The disruptions to auto parts suppliers caused domino effects throughout the supply chain at factories, ports and dealerships.
The downward trend could turn around this year however, as Portland recently began exporting Ford vehicles to South Korea for the first time and Subaru has finished construction on a 413,000-square-foot facility in the port’s Rivergate Industrial District that includes auto parts distribution, a service training center and regional offices.
