Port of Portland gains from Russia wheat export ban

Russia's wheat export ban has led to a huge increase in US grain shipments and an unexpected bonanza for ports, particularly on the Western Seaboard. Washington, Oregon and Idaho expect a 17 percent increase in wheat production to more than eight million tonnes of wheat. Much of this will go through the Port of Portland, which has al-ready experienced an 18 percent increase in grain tonnage this year. Russia is forecast to be cutting exports by 13 million tonnes. Shipments are being speeded up through the port because of a 14-week closure in December of the locks on the river serving Portland. Two-thirds of the Pacific Northwest wheat goes to Portland by barge. Along the St Lawrence Seaway, grain shipments have increased 28 percent in a month to 830,000 tonnes, a 50 percent rise compared with the same period in 2009. At Thunder Bay, Ontario, grain shipments in August rose 15 percent to 485,000 tonnes over August 2009, although they are still well down for the eight months compared with 2009. Portland has become the most recent convert to the private-public investment model in the US, through the US$120 million investment by ICTSI of the Philippines in a break-bulk terminal. However, Virginia is taking the opposite tack. Having secured a lease of the $500 million AP Moller terminal at Portsmouth, the state's port authority has rejected bids from three investor groups, mostly backed by investment funds, for its Hampton Roads terminals. A $2.2 billion offer by CenterPoint Properties Trust of Illinois was the first for the three marine terminals and the inland terminal at Front Royal, in partnership with the port authority, plus a $1.3 billion proposal for a planned Craney Island Terminal. Two other bidders then emerged, the Carlyle Group and a partnership between Carrix and Goldman Sachs.
(Source:www.cargonewsasia.com)