Issue link: https://jocdigital.uberflip.com/i/703653
24 THE JOURNAL OF COMMERCE www.joc.com JULY 2016 SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION OF THE JOURNAL OF COMMERCE development, non-containerized cargo, for The Northwest Seaport Alliance, which represents the U.S. ports of Seattle and Tacoma. Such shipments generally fall in the category of "high, wide and heavy," also referred to as project or out-of-gauge cargo, which comprises everything from energy-generation components to mining equipment and steel beams to entire manufacturing facilities. At Texas's Port of Brownsville, the breakbulk mix has a distinct metallic sheen. "We're currently handling steel slab, steel coil and plate, hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil, iron ore and steel pipes," said Steve Tyndal, senior director of marketing and business development. A dedicated marketing effort led by Frank Camp, Jacksonville Port Authority's director of non-containerized sales, pursues conventional breakbulk shipments. "Forest products are a key commodity for the port. Steel has been moving through the terminals with growing frequency. Jaxport has the capability to import select South American produce directly to the U.S. South Atlantic," he said. The numbers bespeak the continuing importance of these traditional shipments to U.S. ports. In 2015, The Northwest Seaport Alliance handled nearly 1.33 million metric tons of breakbulk cargo, which accounted for 5 percent of their total tonnage. In Brownsville, breakbulk as a percentage of total cargo clocked in at a substantial 40 percent. Since the advent of the container era, skylines at U.S. ports have undergone dramatic changes. Millions of square feet of transit sheds and warehouses were bulldozed to accommodate countless acres of marshaling yards and armies of container cranes that seemed to increase in height and reach with the introduction of each new generation of vessel. In the face of the container surge, any port committed to remaining a player in the bulk and breakbulk trades needs to maintain an appropriate handling and storage footprint. Necessary are: — Warehousing/transit storage. — Open storage. — Mobile and track-mounted cranes. — Specialized lifting gear. — Impregnable security. — Exceptional stevedore and labor expertise. — Proximate locations for rail/truck loading and unloading.