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Increased Shipping to East Coast Ports Benefits NE

Report: While containerized imports at West Coast ports from Asian countries declined by 1.5% last year, they rose 9% at East Coast ports.

By John McCloud | Updated on March 25, 2008

BOSTON-While containerized imports arriving at West Coast ports from Northeast Asian countries declined by 1.5% last year, they rose 9% at East Coast ports, according to a new report from Boston-based Torto Wheaton Research. The reason for the increase, says Torto Wheaton senior economist Laura Stone Mortimer, was a change in shipment patterns that has resulted in an increase in direct water-borne shipments to the East and corresponding decline in coast-to-coast rail cargo shipments.

Where Asian shippers used to unload almost all goods destined for US markets on the West Coast for transfer to truck and rail, they now shuttle more ships through the Panama Canal to Gulf and East Coast ports. Statistics provided by the Intermodal Association of North America show that eastbound shipments of containers from the West Coast declined by 27% to the Northeast and 16% to the Southeast last year.

“The comparative advantage held by West Coast markets as import gateways to the US is being threatened by rising intermodal fees and increasingly stringent environmental regulations,” says Stone Mortimer. “The East is gaining market share of the containerized import traffic as a result of faster vessels, which lower the transit time, and lower intermodal fares from the East and Southeast ports that are located in lucrative, population-rich markets.”

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