Tacoma port not expecting cargo growth until 2010

Tacoma port not expecting cargo growth until 2010 The Port of Tacoma, though reporting smaller declines in cargo volume than most U.S. West Coast ports this year, does not expect to see cargo volume growth return until 2010, according to a new port study released Thursday.
   The study, compiled by port staff, forecasts cargo volumes decline in 2008 and 2009, followed by a slight upward positive trend beginning in 2010.
   Despite this, the five-year forecast said that by 2013, cargo volumes will still be only 1.85 million TEUs, or 10 percent below the port's peak year of 2.06 million TEUs handled in 2006. This is contrasted to the 51.6 percent increase the port experienced in the five years between 2001 and 2006.
   The study cites both a general shift in Asian container market share from the U.S. West Coast ports to East Coast and Canadian ports and the deteriorating world economic condition as the primary reasons for the projected declines.
   Despite the gloomy forecasts, the Tacoma port is actually faring better than most U.S. West Coast ports.
   The Tacoma port handled 1.41 million TEUs through September, down 2.3 percent over the first nine months of 2007. In September, the typical start of the peak shipping season, Tacoma officials report that cargo volumes were down 6.5 percent compared to Sept. 2007.
   However, the Port of Seattle is off 11.2 percent for the year, Long Beach is down 10.5 percent, Los Angeles is down 4.8 percent and the Port of Oakland is off 4 percent.
   This is also being reflected in the overall share of the transpacific container market handled by the U.S West Coast ports. In 2002, the U.S. West Coast ports handled just under 83 percent of all boxes moving into the nation. According to federal government numbers, this number dropped to 72.4 percent for the first half of 2008.