The LA Times has a report on the large decrease of business for the Port of LA/Long Beach. the decrease was from 39% to 32% of all container imports, in a ten-year period. Now it’s true, it is 32% of a larger pie. But it is still a loss to the competition across the US.
It is interesting to note that the competition that is succeeding has focused on supply chain integration with inland transport and storage, rather than simply on fixing the port for large ships.
L.A., Long Beach ports losing to rivals amid struggle with giant ships – LA Times.
There are many examples of East Coast ports that have focused on supply chain integration rather than simply deepre harbors and on-port handling systems. The Port of Virginia (Norfolk), which can already receive big ships, has connected to the Heartland Corridor, which brings goods all the way to Ohio. Prince Rupert, Canada, with the help of the CN railroad, has built a corridor to Joliet IL just south of Chicago. We can see the same concern for off-port transit in Houston.
Our article, which you will hopefully be able to read in white paper pre-publication form soon, talks about some of the issues of supply chain integration at Chicago.
Supply Chain and Logistics 