“While tonnage was down slightly for the calendar year, the port finished 2013 with one of the highest volume months in recent history with 1.3 million tons handled in December and posted fiscal-year gains at the halfway point that bode well for the year ahead,” Port of Portland officials said in a press release.
Because of increasing Ford vehicle exports to China and Korea, higher demand for mineral exports and a $40 million expansion of Columbia Grain’s Terminal 5 grain facility, the outlook for exports this year appears promising, they said.
Among other reasons for optimism: The port has removed antiquated equipment, enhanced rail and road infrastructure, and added capacity at storage facilities, said officials at the port, which is served by BNSF Railway Co. and Union Pacific Railroad.
In addition, Auto Warehousing Co. completed a $2.8 million project last year to expand its processing building; Archer Daniels Midland Co. constructed a new sweetener terminal; Ajinomoto North America added a 9,000-square-foot consumer foods division office and a research/development center; and Daimler Trucks North America is building a new headquarters at the port.
