By Karen E. Thuermer, AJOTIn the world of shipping, breakbulk commodities like rubber, lumber, steel and wood pulp that are shipped in units such as bundles, pallets or bins may not seem as glamorous as their containerized counterparts. Nevertheless, breakbulk is an important mainstay for many East Coast seaports. For the forest products category, the Port of Baltimore hails as the No. 1 East Coast port for imported forest products. This category is the port’s most valuable cargo, from key trading partner Brazil, because of the high volume. “The port has seen double-digit increases in forest products for five years in a row,” reports Rick Schiappacasse, MPA director of Latin America, Caribbean and Forest Products. He anticipates Chile will be the next big player in wood pulp shipments. Some one million tons of wood pulp-based products, such as tissue for paper towels, napkins, and high-end paper used in magazines and other publications arrive at Baltimore, primarily from Brazil. Star Shipping is a major carrier for the product. Once unloaded, the wood pulp is stored in the port’s warehouses. North and South Locust Point have been dedicated terminals for forest products that accommodate long- and short-term warehousing and distribution needs. “We have built two new warehouses specifically for that product,” Schiappacasse remarks. Both are 10,000 square meters each. From there the product is distributed to customers that manufacture tissue-type products. To prevent any contamination while being warehoused, the warehouse floors are specially coated and dust free. Breakbulk forest products shipped northbound from South America is big business for North Carolina’s Port of Wilmington. “We see tremendous opportunities there to grow this business as well as bring in container service,” says Glenn Carlson, vice president, North Carolina Ports Business and Economic Development. “We are putting a lot of emphasis on Brazil and Argentina, in particular.” Targeted are paper, wood pulp, and wood products (plywood, lumber) from Argentina and Brazil. North Carolina’s Port of Morehead City handles fewer forest products than Wilmington, but saw the addition of export logs for TMO Global Logistics that were moved earlier this year from Columbus County, NC to the port by truck. About 200 loads came to the port totaling 4,400 tons. As they arrived, they were stacked in Warehouse 7 for fumigation before being shipped to customers in Germany. In 2005, the Port of Morehead City saw 78,810 tons of forest products cross its docks. Breakbulk tonnage overall for 2006 at Morehead City was 375,998 tons compared to 315,440 tons in 2005. Rubber imports are also important to the Port of Morehead City. The port saw a record year in natural rubber imports, leading the Port’s 19% increase in breakbulk cargo tonnage over fiscal 2005. These were up 22% at 251,875 tons. The port operates as the nation’s second-busiest rubber port. Plans for a new warehouse to accommodate a new lumber account in Morehead City are underway, as are plans to develop a new terminal across the Newport River on Radio Island. Phase One calls for two 1,000-foot berths, 300,000 square feet of warehouse space, 31 acres of paved open storage, and supporting infrastructure and utilities. Meanwhile, the Port of Wilmington handled 1,235,331 breakbulk tons in 2006, compared to 1,271,417 tons in 2005. Imported forest products encompassed 548,858 tons of the total in 2006; exported wood pulp, 539,484 tons, and exported forest products, 195,719 tons. These products are the leading import and export products handled at the Port of Wilmington. The business is good primarily because of the reconstruction of the Gulf Coast following Katrina and other severe hurricanes. Port of Mobile volumes to returnForest products shipments at Alabama’s Port of Mobile are, for the time being, down, and general cargo tonnage is flat for the first three quarters of the port’s fiscal year through June 2007. In FY06 the port handled 3