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Seaport Officials Eye 2010 For Cargo Shipments Rebound

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By TED JACKOVICS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 15, 2009

TAMPA - A worldwide decline in seaport container cargo shipments, which mostly comprise consumer goods, should moderate by 2010 and possibly rebound by 2011, panelists said at an international gathering of seaport officials in Tampa today.

West Coast seaports have been hit the hardest in the United States, with ports along the Gulf of Mexico, including the Port of Tampa, posting better records. That's partially because they do only a fraction of the volume of container cargo business as Long Beach, Calif., Los Angeles, Oakland, Tacoma and Seattle.

The Port of Tampa increased container cargo shipments by 23 percent a year ago to 44,000 20-foot-equivalent containers, each of which can be hauled by truck. But officials are hopeful this year's activity will simply remain steady because of the poor economy.

"Consumers account for two-thirds of the U.S. economy, so when consumers sneeze, the economy catches the flu," said James Brennan, a partner with Norbridge Inc.'s Reston, Va., office, which provides management consulting services.

Brennan told more than 150 people at the Shifting International Trade Routes conference, co-sponsored by the American Association of Port Authorities and the U.S. Maritime Administration, that the initial impact of any U.S. government stimulus package would not be felt by consumers until the fourth quarter of this year and the first quarter of 2010, if all goes smoothly.

Rodolfo Sabonge, market research and analysis vice president for the Panama Canal Authority, said he expects cargo traffic to pick up by the time the $5 billion-plus Panama Canal expansion project is completed in about five years.

The deepening and widening of the canal and improvements to the locks will permit much larger container cargo ships to cross the passage. That means that shipping companies will have to devise new strategies to redirect cargo from larger shipments to smaller ones, similar to the way an airport's hub-and-spoke system works with passengers transferring flights.

Sabonge said planners in Cuba are considering the development of a terminal in Santiago that could serve as a transfer point for future cargo shipments.

Reporter Ted Jackovics can be reached at tjackovics@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7817.

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