Portland port expects $5.7M dip in revenue due to labor, exports

PORTLAND — The Port of Portland is budgeting for a 17.4 percent reduction in revenue from its marine operations for fiscal year 2017 in the wake of a sluggish export market and a labor dispute that all but halted activity at the Terminal 6 container port.

Officials expect $5.7 million less in marine operating revenue than the agency had in its 2016 budget, a port news release read Monday.

The port’s total operating revenue is budgeted at $288 million for fiscal 2017, down from the $295 million adopted for 2016. Operating expenditures are slated to remain relatively flat at $191 million, up from $190 million the previous year.

Hanjin Shipping Co. left the port in February of 2015 amid a contentious labor battle between container-terminal operator ICTSI Oregon and the Longshore workers union. Hanjin had accounted for nearly 80 percent of the port’s container business. Shipping line Hapag-Lloyd, which carried about 20 percent of the port’s containers, soon followed suit. That left Terminal 6 with only a single ship per month as of January.

The port’s marine operation also faces less demand from abroad.

“The strong dollar continues to reduce the buying power of overseas customers and is putting downward pressure on marine export growth,” the port said in the news release.

The Port of Portland Commission will discuss the budget at a public hearing at 9:30 a.m. today at 7200 N.E. Airport Way in Portland. Public comment is welcome, the port said.

The commission will then vote in May and June on the budget, which will be available at the port’s website beginning today.