2006 Los Angeles Port Outlook
April 8, 2006 by Splatty
Filed under Seafreight
Will 2006 follow in the footsteps of 2005 in terms of a relatively smooth operation at the Southern California ports? According to a panel of experts at the 2006 “Pulse of the Ports” conference we should see congestion at a minimum for at least the next 6 months, which is good news considering that the ports of Long Beach/Los Angeles are anticipating another record year. Last year cargo throughput grew at an 8% clip which was slightly down over the 11% pace of 2004. Although the outlook for the Southern California ports looks positive, they may see growing competition from ports in Mexico over the next 5 to 10 years. According to the CalTrade Report, the development of Punta Colonet could provide significant competition to Southern California.
The new development at Punta Colonet could handle 1 million TEUs annually after its first phase of construction and more than five times that amount in the longer term, said Carlos Jauregui, executive director of the Port of Ensenada, which is located about 50 miles south of the US border and would likely administer the project at Punta Colonet.
According to sources, the Mexican government plans to offer long-term contracts to private interests who would build and manage the port.
Jauregui said preliminary estimates put the cost of the development – including a rail link to the US border – as high as $5 billion. Work isn’t expected to begin until at least 2008 and would likely take four years.
”By then, we should see a major overflow in containers that Los Angeles-Long Beach won’t have the capacity to handle,” he said.
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