transportationreport
BY MARK B. SOLOMON, SENIOR EDITOR
AS MOST OF THE WORLD SEES IT, IF YOU ARE CALLED
“Vancouver,” you are either in Canada or you’re nowhere.
It’s a perception that Curtis Shuck, director of economic
development and facilities at the Port of Vancouver in the
United States, combats every day. Never mind that it is
Washington state’s third largest seaport after Seattle and
Tacoma. Or that it celebrates its centennial this year.
Vancouver U.S. still suffers from comparisons with its
neighbor to the north.
Asked if his port in Washington’s southwest corner has a
relationship with its counterpart in British Columbia,
Shuck jokes, “We do, but it’s mostly by mistake.” He
acknowledges that it’s been something of a struggle to convince global businesses that there is another Vancouver-based transport logistics hub in North America.
“There is some confusion in the international markets,” he
says. “Everyone seems to know where the other Vancouver is.”
Despite that, Shuck sees his port winning its fair share of
battles with Vancouver, B.C. “Vancouver, B.C., has significant capacity constraints at this time,” he says. “Increasingly,
international businesses are seeing that there is an alternative. And it’s here.”
Located along the mighty Columbia River, Vancouver
U.S. focuses exclusively on the handling of bulk commodities. Its stock in trade is agricultural products such as wheat,
corn, and soybeans flowing from the U.S. heartland and the
Canadian prairies.
The port is home to what will become the West Coast’s
largest grain storage elevator, operated by United Grain Co.,
a unit of Japanese giant Mitsui Trading Co. The elevator,
which is completing an $80 million expansion, processes
about 16 percent of the nation’s wheat crop.
The port has established a growing position in industrial
commodities like bulk minerals and copper concentrates. It
handles about half a million tons of scrap steel each year. In
addition, Vancouver is ramping up its project cargo capabilities to support domestic and international energy projects, including the shale oil boom in the U.S. Great Plains
and in western Canada.
In total, the port handled 5. 6 million metric tons in 2011,
which still makes it far from the biggest player around. For
example, the Port of Houston handled about 15. 6 million
non-metric, or “short,” tons of bulk and breakbulk cargo
last year. Shuck said Vancouver’s tonnage is growing at an
