Ups And Downs
December 10th, 2004

The “Up side”...
• South Atlantic ports focus on growth
• Bigger and better (More capacity expansion set for New York-New Jersey port)
• Portland, Maine, strives to diversify
• Growth is on the way (Savannah savors China trade, has room to expand)
• Double-digit growth for Savannah
• Trade growth to strengthen: WTO
• Lines shipping empty boxes to meet China demand
• Port of NY/NJ keen to attract more Asia-North America traffic
• Traffic grows for VA ports
• Box maker to double output
• China to keep good times for ocean carriers rolling
• CMA CGM orders 9,000-TEU ships
• New Jersey gets $ 103M for dredging, Halifax looks to China for business boost
• Box charter rates scale new highs
• Record month for GA ports
• NOL volume soars
• Growth to continue, say supply execs
• Sea giants get bigger
• New lease on life for New York port

Now here’s the “down side”... and here’s where it gets confusing.
• U.S. freight system “quickly becoming saturated” (U.S. State Department report to OECD)
• Rail issues pinch NY/NJ box handling
• West Coast ports address impediments to trade flow
• How to deal with West Coast port congestion (A report filed from NIT League)
• Miami seaport extends loading hours to ease backlog of cargo containers
• Port congestion plagues shippers
• LA-Long Beach volume overwhelms inland traffic
• U.S. port, rail congestion seen continuing in 2005
• Trade disruptions update
• Congestion in US ports worries Tirupur exporters
• Congestion makes for glum Christmas
• New UK group formed to fight port congestion

To make some sense of these conflicting and confusing articles, we suggest another reading of Ron Widdoes excellent treatment of the industry’s backed-up transportation system:
• Global congestion to slow trade: APL chief
[This article merits closer examination.]