By Karen E. Thuermer, AJOT California is flourishing with trade, but with so much activity have come bottlenecks and delays at its largest ports, the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Last year, more than $60 billion worth of goods from China alone were imported through the US Customs District that encompasses both ports, in addition to the region’s international airports and Las Vegas. Regional economic analysts predict container traffic to rise 11 percent this year and another 10 percent in 2005. With so much business, smaller seaports have an opportunity to grab some of this volume. Many are going after niche commodities and bill themselves as an alternative port to Los Angeles and Long Beach. “As Los Angeles evolves into a mega container port, we can offer some of the smaller companies their own niche here,” says Kevin Arner of the Port of San Diego. Here is how that thought resonates with several of California’s smaller ports. The Port of San Diego The Port San Diego has successfully carved out a distinctive niche in the automobile trade at National City Marine Terminal with Pasha Services, the stevedore and auto processor at the terminal. The port plans to expand auto imports that might handle up to 500,000 units within the next 10 years. “We have signed a new three-year contract with Volkswagen that should build on the 330,000 autos we process now,” says Jess Van Deventer, San Diego Board of Harbor Commissioners. “The port does some very creative, out-of-the-box thinking,” says Stan Gabara, executive vice president of Pasha Services. „They helped us with support on improvements of the facilities. For example, we put on dock rail for land bridge. It is unheard of at most ports.” Pasha Service chose to locate at San Diego primarily due to its geographic location: “It’s close to the major Southern California market, and a niche port with under-utilized resources,” says Gabara. “The location is good for exports and imports thanks to its proximity to Mexico and NAFTA markets. The location also offers good rail distribution to the interior of North America.” While undergoing site selection, company executives considered many West Coast ports from Vancouver, British Columbia to Ensenada, Mexico. “We tried to find the most compatible, long-term location to distribute automobiles,” Gabara says. “We looked at the distribution patterns of all the major manufacturers producing vehicles in North America.” Another niche commodity well suited for the Port of San Diego is refrigerated cargoes. The port scored big when Dole Fresh Fruit Company moved its operations from the Los Angeles area to the Port of San Diego. “That is one of our biggest uses of the Tenth Avenue Terminal,” says Van Deventer. Dole Fresh Fruit Company ships 1.8 billion pounds of bananas annually through the Tenth Avenue Maritime Terminal. Van Deventer claims the port has the capacity to handle more. Helping to sway Dole to select San Diego over larger West Coast were facility improvements such as its expanded 22-acre, 300,000 square-foot cold storage facility. The facility, which opened in 2002, offers 511 reefer plugs. The port’s new 100-metric ton Gottwalt 300E crane also allows for easier and more efficient unloading of goods. Port officials are hopeful that their 20-year lease with Dole as an anchor tenant will attract Chiquita, which is now operating from Long Beach. Other products transiting the port‚s docks are lumber, fertilizer, cement and newsprint. Port officials have been working hard to persuade Chilean exporters of forest products to utilize their port. “We have a new provider in that sector,” says Van Deventer. “They are hoping to increase their shipments up to 80,000 board feet a year.” Port officials would like to attract container lines operating on the north-south trades to bring more business to the port. Officials see the port well suited for breakbulk or combo vessel services, which are currently calling at the Port of Los Angeles. Port