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West Canadian ports vie for China trade
By Al Campbell |
September 20, 2010, Monday
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TWO small west coast Canadian cities are vying to become key players for China's North American logistic needs, citing an advantage of faster delivery time to the American heartland and a sound and stable business environment.
Over the past few years under the Asia Pacific Gateway and Corridor program, a US$2.8 billion initiative launched in 2006 involving the participation of the Canadian federal government, as well as those at the provincial and municipal levels, the northern British Columbia cities of Prince George and Prince Rupert have emerged as increasingly important parts of the process.
Created by the ruling Conservative Party government, the program involved a radical transformation of traditional mode-specific transport framework of private carriers to a more integrated approach to establish the most efficient transport network to best serve global supply chains between Asia and North America.
Following a few years of heavy investment and infrastructure construction, the pieces are now in place for both Prince George and Prince Rupert to make a significant logistical difference.
At Prince George, a city of about 13,000 people located 770 kilometers north of Vancouver, containers packed with Chinese goods bearing the names of such shipping giants as COSCO and Hanjin Shipping are being unloaded from a ship at the Fairview Box Terminal.
The terminal, which features a seven-track railway yard on the dock, opened in 2007 and was built specifically to take advantage of an existing Canadian National Railway line that connects to an extensive North American rail network.
More important, the distance between Shanghai and Prince Rupert is 1,100 nautical miles (2,073 kilometers) closer than any other North American port. Containers, double stacked onto trains in Prince George, can reach Chicago in the US heartland in 100 hours or less.
About 800 kilometers to the east of Prince George is Prince Rupert. British Columbia's northern capital is a major center for wood products, mining, pulp and paper, as well as education. With its location at the junction of the east-west Highway 16 and the north-south Highway 97, it is also increasingly becoming an important logistics center.
Tim McEwan, president and CEO of Initiatives Prince George, said the municipally owned entity that promotes trade and development in the 80,000-population city has been "aggressively pursuing opportunities in China."
"We are faster than other corridors. The port of Prince Rupert is 58 hours closer to Asia than other (west coast) ports," said McEwan, adding using the northern corridor was quicker than the port in Vancouver, the largest city on Canada's west coast.
With the three main aims of the Corridor program being to boost Canada's commerce with Asia Pacific, increase the share of North America-bound imports and to improve the efficiency and reliability of Canadian North American exports, Prince Rupert is aiming to play a major role in the overall plan.
Shaun Stephenson, the Port of Prince Rupert's vice president for marketing and business development, said the facility has been growing in a declining market, primarily on the strength of its China business. "(China) is where the majority of our growth has come from," he said.
While Stephenson wouldn't go as far as to say shipping through the northern corridor was cheaper than other ports, it was definitely faster. He claimed Asian shippers were trimming their transit time from anywhere between six to 10 days to reach such key access markets as Chicago, Memphis and central Canada.
"And it has been very reliable and consistent service, which means they can run a very tight supply chain," he said. "We're seeing high-value goods move through here where inventory carrying costs are a concern, and also goods that are feeding into just-in-time delivery system and manufacturing, such as auto parts and so forth, going to plants and manufacturing facilities throughout North America."
With Prince Rupert originally being a gateway for export resources such as coal, potash and wheat, among others, Stephenson adds with the existing facilities and potential for new bulk terminals and other infrastructure, the area presented opportunities for developments that have specific relevance for trade with China.
"We think the next layer of opportunity here is to create greater flexibility for shippers. There's opportunity for investments in logistic services, import, trans-load and warehousing and also export services," he said. "Really it's about promoting Prince Rupert and the whole northwest transport corridor and the opportunities for investment in this region."
(The author is writing for Xinhua news agency.)
Over the past few years under the Asia Pacific Gateway and Corridor program, a US$2.8 billion initiative launched in 2006 involving the participation of the Canadian federal government, as well as those at the provincial and municipal levels, the northern British Columbia cities of Prince George and Prince Rupert have emerged as increasingly important parts of the process.
Created by the ruling Conservative Party government, the program involved a radical transformation of traditional mode-specific transport framework of private carriers to a more integrated approach to establish the most efficient transport network to best serve global supply chains between Asia and North America.
Following a few years of heavy investment and infrastructure construction, the pieces are now in place for both Prince George and Prince Rupert to make a significant logistical difference.
At Prince George, a city of about 13,000 people located 770 kilometers north of Vancouver, containers packed with Chinese goods bearing the names of such shipping giants as COSCO and Hanjin Shipping are being unloaded from a ship at the Fairview Box Terminal.
The terminal, which features a seven-track railway yard on the dock, opened in 2007 and was built specifically to take advantage of an existing Canadian National Railway line that connects to an extensive North American rail network.
More important, the distance between Shanghai and Prince Rupert is 1,100 nautical miles (2,073 kilometers) closer than any other North American port. Containers, double stacked onto trains in Prince George, can reach Chicago in the US heartland in 100 hours or less.
About 800 kilometers to the east of Prince George is Prince Rupert. British Columbia's northern capital is a major center for wood products, mining, pulp and paper, as well as education. With its location at the junction of the east-west Highway 16 and the north-south Highway 97, it is also increasingly becoming an important logistics center.
Tim McEwan, president and CEO of Initiatives Prince George, said the municipally owned entity that promotes trade and development in the 80,000-population city has been "aggressively pursuing opportunities in China."
"We are faster than other corridors. The port of Prince Rupert is 58 hours closer to Asia than other (west coast) ports," said McEwan, adding using the northern corridor was quicker than the port in Vancouver, the largest city on Canada's west coast.
With the three main aims of the Corridor program being to boost Canada's commerce with Asia Pacific, increase the share of North America-bound imports and to improve the efficiency and reliability of Canadian North American exports, Prince Rupert is aiming to play a major role in the overall plan.
Shaun Stephenson, the Port of Prince Rupert's vice president for marketing and business development, said the facility has been growing in a declining market, primarily on the strength of its China business. "(China) is where the majority of our growth has come from," he said.
While Stephenson wouldn't go as far as to say shipping through the northern corridor was cheaper than other ports, it was definitely faster. He claimed Asian shippers were trimming their transit time from anywhere between six to 10 days to reach such key access markets as Chicago, Memphis and central Canada.
"And it has been very reliable and consistent service, which means they can run a very tight supply chain," he said. "We're seeing high-value goods move through here where inventory carrying costs are a concern, and also goods that are feeding into just-in-time delivery system and manufacturing, such as auto parts and so forth, going to plants and manufacturing facilities throughout North America."
With Prince Rupert originally being a gateway for export resources such as coal, potash and wheat, among others, Stephenson adds with the existing facilities and potential for new bulk terminals and other infrastructure, the area presented opportunities for developments that have specific relevance for trade with China.
"We think the next layer of opportunity here is to create greater flexibility for shippers. There's opportunity for investments in logistic services, import, trans-load and warehousing and also export services," he said. "Really it's about promoting Prince Rupert and the whole northwest transport corridor and the opportunities for investment in this region."
(The author is writing for Xinhua news agency.)
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