Bill Hensel pens an article for the Chronicle business section on our busy Port of Houston:
When Wal-Mart’s enormous distribution center in Chambers County opens next year, it will trigger a substantial increase in shipments from Asia through the Port of Houston.
And it didn’t happen by accident.
The costly statewide push to snare the 2 million-square-foot warehouse operation is a big win. The facility under construction will cover 50 acres and ultimately could double in size.
Wal-Mart, the world’s biggest retailer, depends so much on shipments from the East that shipping lines are adding service.
This is good news for Houston and Texas. And it’s good news in part because Texas is more competitive than some places:
Currently, cargo is backing up again on the West Coast, with as many as 40 vessels at a time anchored in the harbor at Los Angeles.
The problems on the West Coast stem from labor shortages as well as rail congestion.
Shippers here are also experiencing rail headaches, with demand growing faster than Union Pacific can handle. The port’s Barbours Cut container terminal is operating at capacity.
For that reason, the construction of Bayport was a big topic of discussion when Houston port officials went on a trade mission to East Asia recently, calling on corporations and government officials in Tokyo; Taipei, Taiwan; and Shanghai, China.
Plans call for the initial phase to come on line in 2006, although Bayport opponents are pursuing legal challenges.
NYK Line said it likes what it sees in Houston.
“Overall, the Port Authority of Houston has become very aggressive,” Smith said. “They’ve done their work and seem to have enough foresight and a good plan.”
The problems on the West Coast are probably more systemic than just labor shortages and rail congestion, and the Port of Houston is well positioned to take advantage — thanks to a prevailing can-do attitude towards commerce in Houston (and Texas more broadly).
