Western Railroad Discussion > Record container traffic at Port of Long Beach CA

https://www.railwayage.com/intermodal/record-fy18-for-port-of-long-beach/?RAchannel=intermodal

gmojim



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/17/18 19:20 by gmojim.

Interesting for sure.  Wasn't there a lot of talk about how the enlarged Panama Canal and the Prince Rupert 
terminal, as well as the Lazo Cardenas, I can't remember how to spell that, Mexican port were going to take
a lot of business away form LA/Long Bech?  Doesn't seem to be working that way, IMHO.  

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA

You mean Lazaro Cardenas.

Whether other ports take business away from San Pedro Bay or not is purely a function of the relative rates and fees.

The steamship lines have not lowered their rates through the Canal. And even if they did, it is likely the railroads would respond rather than take a huge hit on market share. Routing via Lazaro Cardenas is not competitive to USA points except to South Texas.

Best regards,

Rob L.

ntharalson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Interesting for sure.  Wasn't there a lot of talk
> about how the enlarged Panama Canal and the Prince
> Rupert 
> terminal, as well as the Lazo Cardenas, I can't
> remember how to spell that, Mexican port were
> going to take
> a lot of business away form LA/Long Bech? 
> Doesn't seem to be working that way, IMHO.  
>
> Nick Tharalson,
> Marion, IA

ntharalson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Interesting for sure.  Wasn't there a lot of talk
> about how the enlarged Panama Canal and the Prince
> Rupert 
> terminal, as well as the Lazo Cardenas, I can't
> remember how to spell that, Mexican port were
> going to take
> a lot of business away form LA/Long Bech? 
> Doesn't seem to be working that way, IMHO.  
>
> Nick Tharalson,
> Marion, IA
---------------------------------------------------------

Exactly correct, Nick

gmojim

The whole idea the Panama Canal was going to be some sort of bypass to allow container ships, on Asia - North American ship rotations, to dock on the east coast or gulf coast instead of LA/Long Beach was always "fake news".   Maritime transportation logistics are way more complex than that.  

But the east/gulf coast ports used that idea to plead for their own benefit and began to seek expansion funding because "we have to have expanded facilities to handle all the new Panama Canal business".  It was mostly BS, though a few ports really did need big upgrades. The media focus should have been on the expanding Asia - North America trade via the Suez Canal, not the Panama Canal.   That's where most of the growth has been over the last several years, as supply chains have shifted toward western Asia.


Allen


 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/18/18 21:18 by bradleymckay.

ntharalson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Interesting for sure.  Wasn't there a lot of talk
> about how the enlarged Panama Canal and the Prince
> Rupert 
> terminal, as well as the Lazo Cardenas, I can't
> remember how to spell that, Mexican port were
> going to take
> a lot of business away form LA/Long Bech? 
> Doesn't seem to be working that way, IMHO.  
>
> Nick Tharalson,
> Marion, IA

Don't get me started about Lazaro Cardenas.  It was a KCS pipe dream too...


Allen
 

Weren't the lower labor costs at the ports of Guaymas, Manzanillo and Lazaro Cardenas supposed to have siphoned off traffic from U.S, ports?  

Wasn't the lure of lower labor costs part of the big push in the proposed "super port" near Ensenada?  

I guess the labor rates aren't radically different enough.  Something tells me the proposed port near Ensenada will remain a pipe dream, especially since they'd have to build all-new rail access to it.  

The way I saw it, and still see it, is this, and Professor Leachman will and can correct me on this.  Lazaro
Cardenas, and thanks for the correction, is a full day's sailing from LA/Long Beach, without the major local
market to coincide with it.  The big advantage LA/Long Beach has over other ports is the tremendous local
market.  A ship can have 25% or more of it's cargoes terminate in the LA metro area.  No other Pacific coast
port can do that.  The thought was that it was a full day's shorter transit time to the Midwest than
LA/Long Beach, but I always felt that any railroad that couldn't beat the time of a container from Mexico 
ought to turn in their switch keys because they were nothing but a parking lot.  And there are still efficiencies
that can be wrung out of the LA/Chicago routes of both the BNSF and UP.  The local market and extra sailing
time is what doomed Lazaro Cardenas and continues to give LA/Long Beach its edge.  

Sorry for the somewhat disjointed nature of this.  

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA