MEDFORD, Ore. — International trade routes have changed for Oregon importers and exporters.
With the departure of container shippers Hanjin of Korea and Hapag-Lloyd of Germany earlier this year, activity at Portland’s Terminal 6 has stalled, forcing companies such as Carestream Healthcare in White City to rely on alternative ports.
Business Oregon, the state’s commerce agency, along with the Port of Portland, the state Agriculture Department and Transportation Department, will hold a series of workshops this summer to identify woes and possible solutions.
After the final stop in Medford in August, Business Oregon will forward freight transportation recommendations to the Legislature.
Carestream routinely trucked in raw materials for its medical imaging film manufacturing from Terminal 6. Now those loads of solvent go to Seattle.
“It costs us more having to truck all the way down from Seattle, and it really stretches things out if the driver is held up in the Seattle yard,” said Mike Donnelly, Carestream’s local materials manager. “There are only so many hours a driver can operate a day. We were using a Portland carrier with a fresh driver at the terminal. Now a driver can end up having to spend the night here and drive back the next day.”
Carestream sends finished and semi-finished products for Europe, South America and Africa to Colorado, where it is combined with other shipments. Film rolls headed to China and other Asian destinations are sent south to Oakland or Long Beach, Calif. Those ports handle the highest volume of the company’s shipments.
“When the vessels were calling on Portland once or twice a week, it was relatively easy for our planners to schedule container pickup once they cleared customs,” Donnelly said. “Trucking from Seattle comes at a premium.”
Carestream could possibly ship rolls south by rail once Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad begins running trains over the Siskiyou Summit later this year.
“Right now our only rail use is for inbound raw materials,” Donnelly said. “If we could get a competitive rate to Long Beach, that would be great. The problem right now for us when it comes to trucking versus rail to Colorado is that rail is a lot more expensive, and slower, than trucking.”
There is another option Carestream thinks should be explored.
“We would be excited about the opportunity to open up Coos Bay to international shipping,” Donnelly said. “That would be attractive.”
There is a push to deepen the Coos Bay channel to a depth of 41 to 45 feet, enough to allow smaller container ships. Before the recession reduced activity, West Coast shippers were searching for additional port terminal space.
Martin Callery, Port of Coos Bay’s chief commercial officer and foreign trade zone coordinator, said the price tag for building a terminal, providing rail access and deepening the channel would exceed $100 million.
“The real issue for us if that happened,” Donnelly said, “is the timing and frequency of calls to port.”
Even though the Port of Portland ran a small fraction of the West Coast container traffic, Ryan Frank, a Business Oregon spokesman, said truck congestion has noticeably increased since Hanjin and Hapag-Lloyd departed.
“You can imagine what that means for transportation, labor, fuel costs and time for importers and exporters,” Frank said. “If you can’t get stuff out of the Port of Portland, you’ve got to go someplace else.”
The first meeting for companies doing international business is July 24 in Portland. Southern Oregon businesses can provide their input from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Aug. 12 at The Inn at The Commons.
