By Karen E. Thuermer, AJOTFor 300 years the Port of Baltimore has played a key role in trade and commerce for the Eastern United States. Since the 1700s, ships have sailed up the Chesapeake Bay to bring cargo into the Port from around the world and to deliver American manufactured goods to marketplaces worldwide. Today the port plays an even bigger role in international commerce. “Because of our port’s location, import cargo arriving at our terminals is distributed to two-thirds of the nation’s population with only an overnight movement,” states F. Brooks Royster III, Maryland Port Administration’s (MPA) executive director. “Our strategic location 180 miles closer to the Midwest allows us to move cargo to companies and consumers in a timelier manner and with less inland transportation cost.” Today, time and money are two important factors to shippers who closely eye logistics costs and map out their supply chain strategies. Excellent rail service and immediate access to major interstate highways, located just minutes from the Port of Baltimore’s terminals, gives the port an advantage many others do not share. As a measure of success, Royster points out that in 2003 the Port was ranked 19th out of America’s 360 ports in tonnage and eighth in cargo value. Today it ranks 14th in tonnage and seventh in cargo value. Getting M-RealThe latest big news is the multi-year contract MPA officials signed with Finnish magazine paper producer M-real. M-real produces paperboard used for packaging, as a base for wallpaper, magazine paper, and commercial printing paper used to make brochures and a variety of other products. It is the parent company of Map Merchant Group, the fourth largest paper merchant group in Europe. The six-year agreement, with two six-year renewal options, commits M-real to bringing about 400,000 tons of paper into Baltimore annually. M-real currently moves 125,000 tons of coated magazine paper through the port. At the heart of the deal is a $28 million investment that will include a large purpose-built forest products transit shed at the South Locust Point Terminal, and a new ramp that will enable the company to use higher technology vessels. The port is also constructing a new parking area for trucks and new security gates for the complex. “We will make the initial investment, and they will repay the state over the 18 years,” Royster says. “Of course, we hope to have them long after that.” A big benefit to M-real is that by consolidating its imports into one port, the company will be able to negotiate for better rail and trucking rates. M-real will also be able to command better storage and handling rates from MPA. “Based on our experience in dealing with the Maryland Port Administration and BalTerm, we are confident that this will be a true win-win for all parties,” says Jorma Sahlstedt, president, M-real USA Corp. BalTerm is the stevedore and terminal handling company for all M-real products. Currently, the Port of Baltimore ranks No. 2 in the nation for handling forest products, behind No. 1 Philadelphia. “We believe that with this business, we will become No. 1,” Royster says. We will keep a finger on our pulse regarding how everybody’s tonnage figures are running, but I think we will find that at the end of 2007 we will be the No. 1 forest products port.” Tops in its nicheBaltimore’s geographic position plays well for the port’s five niches: ro/ro, automobiles, forest products, the cruise industry, and containerized freight. It has contributed immensely to Baltimore being the No. 1 ro/ro port in the United States. “Given the cost of fuel these days, the fewer the ton miles, the better Baltimore appears these days,” Royster says. Paper and ro/ro customers especially benefit by Baltimore’s truck and rail connections. Norfolk Southern runs a unit train for ro/ro cargo going to Chicago several times a week. The Port of Baltimore is the No. 2 automobile port in the United States behind New York/New Jersey.