Ports’ value underscored
The explosion of imports from Asia has turned Southern California into the nation’s loading dock.
More than 40% of the goods that come to U.S. shores in truck-size cargo containers flow through the region’s twin ports to destinations in every state, and 28% of exports from around the country leave through the local harbors, a new study found.
The value of container trade through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach hit $256 billion in 2005, up 246% from $74 billion in 1994, according to a study commissioned by the ports and the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority that will be released today.
State and local tax revenues generated nationwide by the country’s largest port complex rose 368% over the same period, to more than $28.1 billion from $6 billion. Trade through the two ports supported 3.3 million U.S. jobs, up 200% from the 1.1 million such jobs in 1994.
The report sketches a portrait of the neighboring ports as the focal point of a “floodtide of trade” and as a vibrant goods-moving, jobs-generating machine.
Come Monday, the study will be used by a small invasion of nearly 200 California business and government leaders who are heading to Washington to call for a bigger share of federal transportation funding, port security money and healthcare dollars for trade-related illnesses.
“The two ports are truly national ports, handling exports of products from throughout the country while also processing imports bound for every state,” the report says. “Assuring that the road and rail system is robust enough to freely move these goods should be a regional, state and national priority.”
A number of officials said Wednesday that it would be the first time they had traveled to Washington armed with evidence of the ports’ influence down to the constituent level.
This time, for example, they will be able to walk into the offices of Maine’s senators and note that $490 million in goods moving to and from that state in 2005 were handled at the two ports. Similarly, they’ll be able show that nearly $403 million of goods produced or sold in Florida’s 21st Congressional District entered the country through Southern California’s harbors.
“Southern California is America’s Gateway to the global economy and plays a central role in sustaining the nation’s prosperity,” Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who is part of the delegation to Washington, said in a statement. “As container traffic continues to grow, we must invest more in our infrastructure and address the environmental and health impacts caused by the flow of trade through our region.”
The two ports already have moved more containers in January and February (2.6 million) than all but two of the nation’s other ports will move during all of 2007.
The report included some surprises, such as Los Angeles and Long Beach’s effect on regions with large ports of their own. In the 12-state region from Maine to Virginia, nearly $26 billion of its imports and exports went through Southern California even though there are major ports in New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia.
That is a significant figure, said Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, whose district includes the Port of Los Angeles.
“Every congressional member I am going to meet with is going to see exactly how their district benefits from the flow of trade moving through our ports,” Hahn said.
Even companies that aren’t headquartered in California are going to point out that the nation’s economic livelihood depends on the fast movement of goods through the ports.
“The biggest purpose of this trip is to speak as one voice and raise awareness of the value that Los Angeles and Long Beach bring to the nation,” said LaDonna DiCamillo, director of government affairs for Fort Worth-based BNSF Railway, one of two rail lines serving Southern California. “It needs more federal investment in transportation and trade to support a network that sustains and feeds the nation.”
Hahn said another goal would be to illustrate the costs of California’s participation in the global economy, such as 2,400 premature deaths, 360,000 lost workdays and 1 million school absences annually because of trade-related pollution, based on statistics from the California Air Resources Board.
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Where the cargo goes
The value of cargo imported through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in 2005 and where it was headed.
Southwest - $70.3 (in billions)
Great Lakes region -- 45.6
Southeast -- 32.5
Texas-Oklahoma -- 27.3
East Coast -- 23.8
Great Plains -- 16.6
Northwest -- 2.8
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Source: Ports of Los Angles and Long Beach
