Portland transitions to private terminal

Portland transitions to private terminal    International Container Terminal Services Inc. on Feb. 12 took over full operations of the Port of Portland's Terminal 6 container and breakbulk facilities.
   Philippines-based ICTSI won a concession in May 2010 to manage the terminal for 25 years.
   Elvis Ganda in November was named chief executive officer and general manager of ICTSI Oregon, the parent company's first foray into the U.S. market. ICTSI has hired about 20 employees to support terminal operations.
   The company manages 21 marine terminals in 15 countries around the world.
   The Port of Portland had operated Terminal 6 itself.
   2010 represented the third best tonnage year for the seaport, totaling more than 13.1 million tons, up 28 percent from the previous year. The port handled 575 ship calls, up 15 percent from 2009. In January year-over-year tonnage increased 5 percent to 1.14 million tons.
   Port officials expect to improve import and export volumes following the completion of the Columbia River channel improvement project last November. The river now has a 43-foot navigation channel from the port to the Pacific Ocean, which will allow ships to accommodate an additional 6,000 to 10,000 tons of bulk and containerized cargoes.
   Last year exports of mineral bulks, such as potash and soda ash increased 68 percent to 5.3 million tons. Bulk grain increased 11 percent to 4.7 million tons.
   Container volume grew 4 percent to 181,100 TEUs in 2010. In January, container volume increased 26 percent to 17,891 TEUs, with loaded containers up 20 percent to 9,397 TEUs.
   Breakbulk imports, including steel rail and slab and project cargo, jumped 146 percent to 965,935 tons. But breakbulk fell 20.5 percent to 58,812 tons in January.
   Auto imports posted a 10 percent gain with 264,871 finished vehicles crossing the docks, the port authority said. Honda, Hyundai and Toyota use Portland as an import gateway. In January, auto volume declined 1.9 percent from a year ago to 15,262 vehicles.