Oakland logistics center could attract additional cargo

The California port hopes the new facility will attract some first-port inbound calls from Asia.    New development projects at the Port of Oakland could add jobs, economic growth, and perhaps make the Northern California city the first port of call for some inbound ships from Asia, said Beth Frisher, maritime business development manager.
   “As that happens, we’ll bring increased economic vitality to the entire Bay Area and Northern California,” she said at the Bay Planning Coalition’s 2015 Decision Makers Conference.
   A 360-acre trade and logistics center being built by the port and City of Oakland on the former Oakland Army Base is envisioned as a magnet to attract additional import and export cargo.
   The Port of Oakland is currently constructing a railyard at the site to be followed by new transload warehouses. When completed, commodities shipped in bulk can be transferred to containers for export out of Oakland and imports can be transloaded into 53-foot domestic containers and then placed on rail cars for inland shipment.
   Frisher said the new capabilities could convince shipping lines to make Oakland their first U.S. port call from Asia. All the top transpacific container carriers have weekly services in Oakland now, but stop first in the Port of Los Angeles or Port of Long Beach.
   Two other projects in the planning stage are expected to generate more cargo growth, Frisher added. One is a cold-storage facility; the other is a grain transload operation. Both would permit bulk shipments of agricultural products such as beef and grain to be transferred from rail to containers for overseas delivery.
   “With these facilities and our Class 1 rail connections, we’re providing a direct link to the farm belt,”  Frisher said.