the film forum library tutorial contact

Columbia River Shippers Sign Up for Port Subsidy During Lock Closures by James Mayer The Oregonian, January 5, 2011

Four exporters and one large shipping company have taken advantage of a Port of Portland program to subsidize shippers forced to use trucks or rail at higher cost while the Columbia and Snake river barge system is shut down for replacement and repair of locks.

The Port allocated $800,000 to help shippers get products to Portland and its international terminals during the 14-week closure that began Dec. 10.

Barges go through locks at The Dalles, John Day and Lower Monument dams on their way to Portland. It is the cheapest route for exporters.

The Port will pay shippers $400 a container for rail shipments from Lewiston, Idaho, and $250 per container moved by truck from Umatilla and Boardman, until the locks reopen or the $800,000 runs out.

Josh Thomas, a Port spokesman, said officials expect the money to be enough to support the shippers through the closure. The payments will not cover the total shipping costs but are designed to maintain Portland's competitive advantage. Exporters would otherwise find it cheaper to truck products to Puget Sound ports.

Last year, eastern Oregon and Idaho farmers shipped more than 2,000 containers of hay and other products by barge downriver to Portland for loading at Terminal 6 for shipment overseas.

The companies receiving the subsidies are:

• Oregon Hay Products Co. based in Boardman, provides alfalfa and hay compression, processing and shipping.

• RDO-Calbee Foods, LLC, a joint venture between RD Offutt Foods of Fargo, North Dakota, and Calbee snacks of Tokyo. RD Offutt is the largest potato grower in the US, with food processing plants in 5 states. Calbee is the second-largest snack food company in the world with market dominance in Japan and Asia. The company processes potatoes in Boardman and exports frozen products to Calbee plants in Japan.

• Barenbrug USA, a grass seed company based in Tangent, part of the global Barenbrug Group based in the Netherlands.

• Collins Pine Co, a Portland-based wood products company.

• Hapag-Lloyd, the Hamburg-based global container shipping company, which represents several export firms in the subsidy program, Thomas said.