Cargo to Be Diverted to Houston in Wake of Katrina
Posted on: Thursday, 1 September 2005, 00:00 CDT
Sep. 1--Houston port officials were bracing Wednesday to handle an upswing in cargo as a result of a shutdown of ports in Louisiana and Mississippi.
For example, the cargo ship Indotrans Flores, originally bound for New Orleans and the Port of Pascagoula in Mississippi, is scheduled to be unloaded at the Port of Houston today. The vessel was carrying 3,000 tons of rubber and 2,000 cubic meters of timber destined for delivery in Oklahoma.
Houston Port officials noted that a variety of cargo shipments originally bound for New Orleans, Mobile, Gulfport and Pascagoula are being redirected to other ports.
"Some of those shipments are expected to come to Houston, but right now it is hard to predict how much and for how long," the port said in a prepared statement. "It is not known how long the damaged Gulf Coast ports will be shut down."
The port authority already has received additional cargo from ships that were already coming to its Barbours Cut Container Terminal but were also planning to unload some cargo at New Orleans. Port officials said they had also been notified by a few carriers that plan to unload additional cargo at Barbours Cut, port officials said.
The ports of New Orleans and Houston both handle considerable shipments of steel, so it's likely Houston will have more steel coming through.
New Orleans also handles a large amount of coffee, a commodity Houston port officials have worked to get more of in recent years. Houston has warehouses certified by the New York Board of Trade to handle such shipments.
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Source: Houston Chronicle
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