Port Sailing Amid Stormy Economic Seas

Even with Asian and Latin American economies in a tailspin, the Port of Hueneme continues to increase its cargo traffic and post a few records along the way.

Though some of its main trading nations include Japan, which is suffering through it most severe recession since World War II, and Brazil, whose economy is also on the brink of collapse, the port cleared more than 1 million tons of cargo during the last fiscal year--a first for the state’s smallest commercial harbor.

“We’re in a nice kind of insulated position,” said Kam Quarles, public relations manager for the port. “We’re a customized facility that’s kind of like the lightweight boxer with good technical skills rather than the heavyweight with one big left.”

Port Hueneme has carved itself a niche importing and exporting staple goods, such as fruit, for which the demand is more stable than luxury items like computers and stereos.

And as Asian car producers seek to take advantage of a strong U.S. economy and stable dollar, auto imports have also increased, adding to the port’s unprecedented success.

The port recently doubled its size after purchasing a neighboring parcel of land from the Navy. Officials attribute the expansion to the 32% increase in cargo volume posted during the fiscal year that ended June 30.

During the same period, banana imports jumped a record 64%, car imports increased about 20%, and citrus exports rose by 4%.

However, the next six months will be telling, officials said, because the port’s carefully tailored operation is not immune to outside economic forces.

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Asia, whose regional economy expanded at a rate of more than 6% a year through most of the early 1990s, has experienced a financial crunch so severe it is threatening to downshift the global economy.

Thailand’s currency, the baht, has collapsed. Indonesia, wracked by economic problems of its own, is now threatened by renewed political instability.

Japan’s banking system has yet to find a way out from under more than $1 trillion in bad loans, while a tight money crunch has hammered South Korea’s economy.

The situation in Latin America is not much better.

Prompted by the yearlong Asian crisis, Brazil is muddling through an economic conflagration that threatens to devalue its currency, the real.

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Brazil is the world’s ninth largest economy and this country’s 11th largest export partner. It also is the economic linchpin for all of Latin America, accounting for nearly 40% of the region’s $1.8-trillion yearly output.

An economic collapse would undoubtedly affect other countries, such as Argentina and Ecuador, experts say.

And if these crises continue, economists fear markets for exports like lemons and tractors will evaporate.

At the same time, those countries will also be unable to sustain their current levels of production, prompting a shortfall in import traffic at the port.

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In fact, last week President Clinton labeled the crisis the “biggest financial challenge facing the world in half a century” and called on all the major economic nations to work together to stall the slide and restore stability.

But it is unclear whether a prolonged crisis would have much of an effect on the Port of Hueneme and the county’s vibrant economy.

“If these situations were to last an inordinate amount of time, we’d see an effect,” Quarles said. “But it takes time for those kinds of things to ripple into the [local] economy, and we’re not at all sure what the effect would be.”

Though Port Hueneme struggled for years against the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, it has emerged as a growing enterprise capable of handling some cargo traffic as well as or better than the two larger ports.

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With more than 2,700 jobs sustained by its activity, Port Hueneme pumped about $300 million into the local economy last year. And while it’s an important component of the Ventura County economy, said Mark Schniepp of the UC Santa Barbara Economic Forecast Project, it’s only one part of a much larger and diverse economic landscape.

“If the situation [in Asia and Latin America] continue, we’ll see an effect,” he said. “But in my opinion, it would be minimal.”

Ventura County’s economy, he added, would not witness much of an impact if port traffic suffered a shortfall in cargo. A sudden global economic collapse, however, would be another matter.

“What I mean by sudden is something cataclysmic,” Schniepp said. “It would be more than just currency fluctuations.”

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Though officials said they will continue to monitor the pulse of the world economy, they are not making special attempts to shield the port from the volatile market, other than to continue finding clients and increasing port traffic.

“There’s really not much we can do other than to try and do better,” Quarles said. “That’s our only option.”