Sound Transit Update and Project Administration Agreement, Port Community System briefing, and Financial Performance history top Tuesday’s Meeting

HeaderUSDA Near-dock storage partnership

April 1, 2022

IN THIS ISSUE:

Sound Transit Update and Project Administration Agreement, Port Community System briefing, and Financial Performance history top Tuesday’s Meeting

At their April 5 meeting, The Northwest Seaport Alliance Managing Members will take action on the Sound Transit Project Administration Agreement. The West Seattle and Ballard Link Extensions Project is located within the City of Seattle and the NWSA operates facilities in the project area. Port facilities will be affected by the project and this authorization allows the CEO to execute an agreement with Sound Transit to provide reimbursement to the NWSA for the costs of services and products related to the Sound Transit project. 

Additionally, Managing Members will be briefed on the Port Community System (PCS) Appointment Capacity system as well as the NWSA Financial Performance History. In 2021, Managing Members authorized staff to expand the existing PCS by adding an Appointment Capacity Dashboard to enhance visibility of port operations to support efficient cargo movement. The briefing will provide an update on the completion of Proof of Concept and discuss the upcoming Pilot phase. The Financial Performance briefing will review February 2022 year to date financial performance, 2021 financial results compared to the original 2021 budget, and the seven-year history of NWSA financial performance.

Other items for the meeting include discussion of the CEO Evaluation and general operations updates from the NWSA

View the full agenda.

The in-person meeting begins at 11:00 a.m at The Conference Center at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Meetings are also streamed live from the NWSA’s website.

 To deliver comments during the public comment portion of the meeting, please send an email to nwsacomment@nwseaportalliance.com by 9 a.m. Monday, April 4, 2022, that includes your name and the agenda topic you wish to speak to. Please include “speaker” in the subject line. Written comments may be submitted to the same email address and will be provided to the commissioners. 


USDA Partnership to ease port congestion and support increased agricultural exports through the NWSA gateway

USDA partnership

On March 18, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced plans for partnering with the NWSA to enhance access to Terminal 46’s near-dock storage for dry agricultural and refrigerated containers. Terminal 46 has been used for temporary storage of containers since early Spring 2021, and with this new partnership, agricultural producers can receive a rebate for utilizing the facility.

USDA Undersecretary Moffit, Senator Cantwell, NWSA Co-Chairs, and ag producers met to jointly announce the new program. This partnership further helps reduce operational hurdles and costs for ag exporters and makes it so goods can more quickly be loaded on ships at the export terminals.

Read more about the USDA partnership here.


Full container imports break record for February

NWSA February volumes increased 11.1% to 298,046 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), with full imports growing 21.4% and full exports declining 24.2% year-over-year. February 2022 full imports reached an all-time high for the month because of continued strong consumer demand and retail inventory restocking. Year-to-date volumes improved 2.3% to 570,328 TEUs, with full imports growing 9.7% and full exports declining 30%.

Read more here.


NWSA welcomes new, expedited Vietnam service

Swire Shipping and UWL launched a dedicated, direct express service from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, to Seattle. The biweekly express service—calling at Terminal 30 in the Seattle Harbor—will offer the fastest ocean freight service from Vietnam to the USA: 18 days. The service departs from the centrally located SP-ITC terminal—which is near suppliers—providing lower drayage cost and easy access to empty equipment. Vietnam is a growing trading partner for the NWSA. Vietnam was our second largest import trading partner and fourth overall in 2021 by TEU volume. Ho Chi Minh City and Haiphong are our fourth and seventh largest import trading ports, respectively.


Proudly celebrating National Agriculture Week

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