The Greek philosopher Heraclitus once said that “the only constant in life is change.” The saying, of course, also applies to cargo business.
In an environment in which natural disasters, geopolitical matters and more could affect the movement of cargo, seaports have little choice but to adapt.
Ports in the Pacific Northwest are doing just that, whether it’s pursuing new streams of business to diversify its portfolio of cargo or investing millions of dollars in equipment and infrastructure projects to move more cargo more efficiently.
For example, the Northwest Seaport Alliance, the cargo operating partnership between the ports of Seattle and Tacoma, highlighted recent efforts to build capacity and efficiency.
That includes the March completion of the second phase of its Terminal 5 modernization project that included a pair of reconfigured berths with six state-of-the-art super-post Panamax cranes, giving the terminal the ability to process ultra-large vessels and have a total cargo capacity of 185 acres.
Here’s a deeper look at what happening at several seaports in the Pacific Northwest:
Port of Vancouver USA
In recent years, Washington state’s third-largest public port has been able to ride the unpredictable nature of the cargo business.
Port of Vancouver USA Chief Commercial Officer Alex Strogen recalled the port aggressively going after wind energy cargo in 2019, allowing the seaport to have one of its best years for cargo volumes in 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We had a booming year for wind energy and that provided an enormous economic shot in the arm for the area when things otherwise were pretty dark,” Strogen said.
Demand for wind energy cargo shifted a bit in 2024, a result of more U.S. manufacturing.
“We really started to feel the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act and the tax incentives in place to encourage manufacturers to actually build the wind turbines domestically,” he said.
Now most of the port’s wind energy business is bound for Canada, especially to Alberta and Saskatchewan, he said.
“So, while U.S. policy has created a bit of a dampening effect for wind imports, what we’ve seen is still a pretty robust and healthy wind energy market in Canada,” Strogen remarked.
The port is also seeing a softening of auto volumes after experiencing a healthy spike of vehicles in recent years. The port, the largest gateway for Subaru in the U.S., saw roughly 75,000 of the carmaker’s vehicles arrive at its docks in 2024, less than the record 98,000 that moved through the port in 2023.
Strogen said inflation and rising auto insurance rates have dampened some of the demand for new autos.
“Still a good year, but maybe not as good as maybe we would have initially hoped,” he said.
Keeping a diversified cargo business has been key for the port, a strategy that Vancouver intends to continue into 2025-2026.
“We simply believe that ultimately it’s this mix that will keep us from finding ourselves in an awkward position,” Strogen said.
The port saw a number of major components of project cargo move through their docks in 2024 and head to Boise, where Micron Technology is building a $15 billion chip manufacturing facility. The 600,000-square-foot plant is expected to be completed later this year with production set to start in 2026, according to the Idaho Statesman.
This spring, the port plans to break ground on a large new terminal revitalization project with Vancouver Bulk Terminal to adapt the facility into one that can export soda ash.
The soda ash, which is mined in Wyoming, can be used for solar panels and lithium-ion batteries for EV vehicles, Strogen said.
The re-imagined facility, which is expected to be operational by 2026, has the potential to move about 1.5 million metric tons of soda ash on an annual basis through the port.
“It will be a new commodity for the Port of Vancouver and one that we believe honestly has a lot of predictability and stability to it, regardless of where some of the geopolitics and economic factors may lead us,” Strogen said.
Port of Grays Harbor
The Port of Grays Harbor has been on an upward trajectory in recent years. The Aberdeen, Wash.-based seaport reported historic growth at its four deepwater marine terminals in 2023 and 2024, with commodities such as timber, soymeal, liquid bulk, wood chips and automobiles leading the way.
“We have a real good diversity of cargo across our marine terminals,” said Leonard Barnes, who became the port’s executive director in April 2024 after his predecessor, Gary Nelson, retired.
Barnes said the port received a record amount of canola oil out of British Columbia that arrived in vessels and serves as biofuel feedstock for Renewable Energy Group, a biodiesel production company.
He anticipates more than 75,000 autos passing through the port’s docks in the coming year.
“Grays Harbor has an awesome team, and that team is people within our port, our labor force, our customers, which is allowing us to have unprecedented growth,” he said.
The port is advancing key projects to meet rising demand. In November, the port broke ground on its $60 million Terminal 4 Expansion and Redevelopment Project that extends rail into the Marine Terminal Complex by more than 40,000 feet and installs a new marine fender system for bulk and Ro-Ro vessels, as well as a new system for collecting and treating stormwater.
The project also aims to re-envision the former 520 casting basin site into a space for laying down cargo.
The T4 project supports the $170 million investment of Ag Processing Inc. (AGP) in a new export facility, also at Terminal 4. The company, based in Omaha, Neb., is the port’s largest partner, and has been setting export records at its current location at Terminal 2. AGP needs the new facility to meet demand for soybean products and byproducts.
“Right now, we do about 60-plus Panamax vessels a year at T2, but with the expansion—and it’ll be going online mid-year 2026—we will be doubling up to over 120 Panamax vessels a year,” Barnes said.
Meanwhile, the port is engaged in a project at Terminal 3 with PNWRE (Pacific Northwest Renewable Energy), a company that wants to build a facility to create wood pellets from wood chips, sawdust and other material and ship the pellets overseas. The project, valued at more than $220 million, is in the permitting phase, Barnes said.
He also wants to further the growth of businesses at the port and economic opportunity for the county.
“I want to make sure our existing customers have a good platform to conduct their businesses environmentally and then also have the facilities in place for all of them to be able to go into their markets,” he said.
“We are blessed with a lot of property here at the port that sets up our marine terminals,” Barnes added, and making them “efficient (and) environmentally responsible” will create more economic opportunity for the community around Grays Harbor.
Port of Portland
With purview over four marine terminals, five business parks and three airports, the Port of Portland is a major economic engine, supporting thousands of jobs and the vital movement of goods.
It’s home to Terminal 6, Oregon’s only global container terminal that generates more than 1,500 jobs and about $20 million in local and state tax revenue annually.
When a funding shortfall prompted the port’s announcement to wind down operations at Terminal 6 last year, lawmakers vowed to preserve a big part of the state’s economic engine.
In December, the port announced that it is working on a framework agreement with Wilmington, Calif.-based Harbor Industrial Services Corp., setting the stage for Harbor Industrial to be T6’s long-term operator.
The agreement calls for the port to offset losses from container operations with state funds—$5 million, along with $20 million more for investment for terminal improvements.
“The framework agreement is the latest development in the port’s focused efforts to rebuild and grow container service at Terminal 6, a critical resource for businesses in every part of the state that imports and exports products ranging from seafood and animal feed to building supplies,” according to the port.
The agency is working to solidify a timeline and basic terms over the next five months and working with lawmakers on funding opportunities for T6.
Meanwhile, the port is close to wrapping up the “Stronger T6” project, a $42 million infrastructure project that includes replacing electrical parts to lower energy use and allow for zero-emission operations in the future.
There also are plans to install a new stormwater system to improve the quality of runoff into the Columbia River, add two new emergency generators for backup power during outages and expand and bolster about 10 acres of pavement and update an additional 30 acres of pavement throughout the terminal.
A U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) Port Infrastructure Development grant, a Connect Oregon grant and matching port funds help make the project possible.
“These infrastructure improvements will benefit businesses and workers throughout the Pacific Northwest who rely on cost-effective, safe, reliable and efficient access to international markets, in addition to reducing environmental impacts through lower carbon emissions,” Port Marine Director John Akre said.
The port is also embarking on a massive effort to replace Dredge Oregon, which has been the sole dredging vessel in the last 65 years, as well as securing the necessary state funding to begin the next round of dredging needed to maintain the width and depth of the lower Columbia River navigation channel.
The port, which received $2.77 million through an EPA Clean Ports Planning Grant, is currently conducting studies to support lowering the carbon footprint of the port’s marine terminals .The goal is to improve resiliency in the face of natural disasters and analyze wind and other green-energy market opportunities.
“This funding is a game-changer for planning a greener future at our marine terminals, from zero-emissions equipment to new renewable power and clean-fuel options for the vessels our terminals serve,” port Executive Director Curtis Robinhold said.
To support Oregon’s growing mass timber industry and address the region’s housing shortage, the port is also transforming Terminal 2 in Portland’s Northwest industrial area into a 39-acre Mass Timber and Housing Innovation Campus.
The campus encompasses areas to build modular housing and other mass timber structures, research and develop new products and technologies, train the workforce and aid small business growth, while helping new companies get off the ground, according to the port.
In January, the port announced that the University of Oregon is leasing space at T2 for its new acoustic research laboratory.
Phase 1 of the project, which includes stabilizing upriver soil, extending utilities, improving campus-wide frontage and pavement and establishing anchor tenants, is set to be fully operational in 2028. Housing production is expected to start in early 2026.
Port of Coos Bay
The Oregon International Port of Coos Bay hired of its first female CEO in August, appointing Lanelle Comstock, who had been serving in an interim capacity since last June. She has been at the port for more than 12 years in various roles, including chief administration officer.
The port also announced that former Coos County Commissioner Melissa Cribbins has been named executive director for the Pacific Coast Intermodal Port (PCIP) project, which seeks to develop a fully electrified ship-to-rail facility that would be able to handle about 1.2 million TEUs annually when completed.
The facility is expected to generate about 9,400 direct and indirect jobs and strengthen the port’s position in U.S. and global trade. The project includes improvements to the Coos Bay Rail Line and deepening a navigational channel.
Cribbins takes the helm at a time when the project and adjacent projects are garnering major funding.
In October, the PCIP netted $25 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s INFRA (Infrastructure for Rebuilding America) program. The grant would fund the project’s environmental compliance and permitting, design and engineering work.
In January, the port received nearly $4 million in federal Railroad Crossing Elimination (RCE) Grant Program funding for an overpass project and safety enhancements.
This funding is expected to pay for the design and engineering costs of a new overpass crossing Oregon Highway 38, as well as safety improvements in Reedsport, Ore., the port said.
“Safety is at the heart of everything we do at the Port of Coos Bay, and this project addresses important potential improvements in the Reedsport area,” Comstock said in January. “We will continue coordinating as a regional team, thoughtfully balancing economic opportunity with enhanced safety.”
The port also bolstered trade relations with one of its partners last year. In March, the port and the Port of Kaohsiung in Taiwan formally agreed to discuss best practices, technology and other industry solutions.
Trade is a significant sector for Oregon, where 1 in 10 jobs stem from port activities. Taiwan became the U.S.’s eighth biggest largest trading partner with $135 billion in 2022.
KAREN ROBES MEEKS, a Southern California native, is an award-winning journalist with more than 20 years’ writing experience. Her articles have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Orange County Register and Long Beach Press-Telegram, where she worked as a reporter for nearly 14 years. Her work has been recognized by the California News Publishers Association, the Associated Press News Executives Council and the Los Angeles Press Club.