The Coast Guard said late Thursday that the Port of Morehead City, N.C., had reopened and normal operations resumed after the Unified Command in charge of cleaning up explosives that spilled at the State Port Facility completed the clean up of the hazardous materials from the area.

The port was closed on Tuesday morning after a fork-lift operator punctured one or more containers of the highly explosive material PETN.

Although no injuries or environmental damage were reported, the port quickly closed and evacuated an area within 300 yards of the port. All vessel traffic was prohibited within the safety zone.

Carteret County first responders and emergency management officials responded to the hazardous materials incident at the port. The remediation work was performed under the direction of the U.S. Coast Guard.

“The incident response for the entire event was safe and was brought to a successful conclusion,” said Port State Facility Lt. Robert Jones, the Coast Guard’s security officer for the state port facility. “As a party in interest, the State Port Facility shall have a direct interest in the investigation of the incident,” he said.

- Peter T. Leach, The Journal of Commerce Online.

Containerized exports in Southern California soared in December, increasing 40.2 percent over December 2008 at the Port of Los Angeles and 30.9 percent at the Port of Long Beach.

The nation’s two largest container ports closed out their worst year in decades. Total container volume, including loaded imports and exports and empty containers, was down 14 percent in Los Angeles to 6,748,945 20-foot equivalent units. Long Beach was down 22 percent to 5,067,597 TEUs.

Imports continued to show gradual improvement as they have done each month since late summer. Long Beach reported an increase of 13.4 percent over December 2008. Imports through Los Angeles were 4.4 percent lower than the previous December.

Total container volume increased 8.7 percent compared to December 2008 in Long Beach and 0.35 percent in Los Angeles.

The trend of recent months indicates that the U.S. trade recovery will be led by exports. “The spike in loaded outbound containers was a nice way to put a tough year behind us,” said Geraldine Knatz, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles.

Trade analysts anticipate a gradual recovery in U.S. imports, which out-number containerized exports by a factor of two to one.

- Bill Mongelluzzo, The Journal of Commerce Online.

An inspection by the Coast Guard cutter Forward found port facilities at Port-au-Prince, Haiti, were severely damaged in the Jan. 12 earthquake and apparently unusable.

Spokesman Lt. Cdr. Chris O’Neil said Thursday the vessel, aided by an intelligence unit, found cranes were destroyed and piers submerged. Aids to navigation were in their proper places, but on first examination, shore facilities are in no condition to receive ships that might be carrying relief supplies.

O’Neil emphasized that the inspection was preliminary.

A Coast Guard aerial photo shows two of the port’s cranes in the water. A wharf 1,500 feet long and some 60 feet wide has subsided below the water surface.

Air charter companies, including Chapman Freeborn, said they were beginning to fly supplies in. FedEx said it will airlift on Friday an aid consignment for Direct Relief.

The airport at Port-au-Prince is largely undamaged, according to a report from Chapman Freeborn Airchartering, but lacks air traffic control. Santo Domingo airport in the neighboring country of the Dominican Republic provides a viable alternative to Port Au Prince airport.

- R.G. Edmonson, The Journal of Commerce Online.

Höegh Autoliners will start calling the Port of Charleston later this month with its Middle East service, which will bring two new ship calls a month to the port.

The first vessel, the Höegh Bangkok, is scheduled to arrive at the Union Pier Terminal in Charleston on Jan. 29 to load BMWs made at the manufacturer’s South Carolina plant for export to the Middle East.

“Importantly, this is new business for the Port of Charleston,” said Jim Newsome, president and CEO of the South Carolina State Ports Authority. “The service is expected to load more than 5,000 vehicles annually that Hoegh previously moved across a competing South Atlantic port.”

According to the car carrier’s website, Höegh’s Middle East service offers four to five sailings a month from U.S. load ports that currently include Jacksonville, Baltimore, Wilmington, Del. and New York, to discharge ports in the Middle East that include Beirut, Aqaba, Jeddah, Port Sultan Qaboos, Dubai, Jebel Ali, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, and Dammam.

- Peter T. Leach, The Journal of Commerce Online.

INTTRA, an e-commerce platform for the ocean freight industry, introduced a Web-based application that allows shippers, freight forwarders and their partners to track in-transit containers across multiple carriers.

INTTRA Act Track and Trace 2.0 tracks container events provided electronically by carriers on the platform and can be searched by container, bill of lading, carrier booking number, carrier name, date range and much more. Filtered results are available more quickly than obtaining information by visiting individual carrier sites.

- Thomas L. Gallagher, The Journal of Commerce Online.

U.S. trade with other countries increased broadly in November as imports outpaced exports, widening the trade deficit by $3.2 billion.

The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, through the Department of Commerce, announced Tuesday that total November exports of $138.2 billion and imports of $174.6 billion resulted in a goods and services deficit of $36.4 billion, up from $33.2 billion in October, revised.

November exports were $1.2 billion more than October exports of $137 billion. November imports were $4.4 billion more than October imports of $170.2 billion.

Compared with a year earlier, imports and exports were significantly lower. Exports were down $3.3 billion, or 2.3 percent, and imports were down $10.1 billion, or 5.5 percent. In November, the goods and services deficit decreased $6.8 billion from November 2008.

The October to November increase in exports of goods reflected increases in foods, feeds, and beverages ($1.3 billion); automotive vehicles, parts, and engines ($700 million); and capital goods ($400 million). Decreases occurred in consumer goods ($700 million), industrial supplies and materials ($500 million), and other goods ($400 million).

The October to November increase in imports of goods reflected increases in industrial supplies and materials ($2.1 billion), consumer goods ($1.4 billion), and capital goods ($1.2 billion). Decreases occurred in foods, feeds, and beverages ($200 million) and automotive vehicles, parts, and engines ($100 million). Other goods were virtually unchanged.

- Thomas L. Gallagher, The Journal of Commerce Online.

Effective February 6, 2010, “K” Line America is increasing its terminal handling charges (THC) for Vietnam for trans-Pacific westbound cargo, according to information on the carrier’s website. Effective Feb. 6, 2010, the THC for 20′ dry containers will rise to $79 from $75; the THC for 20′ reefer containers will climb from $75 to $91. The surcharge for 40′ and 40′ HC dry containers will rise to $122 from $115, and the rate for 40′ reefer containers will jump from $115 to $159. The THC for 45′ containers will go from $140 to $148.

For details of these and other surcharges, consult “K” Line America’s Transpacific Westbound Surcharges page.

Evergreen has announced plans to raise rates from North America to Asia, Australia, and the Middle East. The carrier said the increases will take effect Feb. 15, 2010, for all dry cargoes, including exempt commodities. Interested parties should contact Evergreen for details.

Surface trade between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement partners Canada and Mexico grew for the fifth consecutive month in October and showed improvement in the rate of decline from a year earlier.

Trade using surface transportation among the NAFTA countries amounted to $61.4 billion in October, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics of the U.S. Department of Transportation. That was a gain of 7.2 percent from September to October, picking up the pace of steady growth since May.

Compared with last October, surface trade fell 15.5 percent, slowing the pace of year-over-year declines of more than 20 percent through the first nine months of 2009. The bottom of the slump was in May, when surface trade fell 35.4 percent compared with a year earlier to $47.9 billion.

About 88 percent of U.S. trade by value with Canada and Mexico moves by truck, rail and pipeline.

U.S.-Canada surface transportation trade totaled $36.3 billion in October, down 19 percent compared to October 2008. The value of imports carried by truck was 15.8 percent lower in October 2009 compared to October 2008, while the value of exports carried by truck was 9.5 percent lower during this period.

U.S.-Mexico surface transportation trade totaled $25.1 billion in October, down 10 percent compared to October 2008. The value of imports carried by truck was 4.2 percent lower in October 2009 than October 2008 while the value of exports carried by truck was 13.5 percent lower.

- Thomas L. Gallagher, The Journal of Commerce Online.

- Ken Anderson, Brownfield Ag News

As expected, Taiwanese lawmakers have voted to reinstate a ban on certain U.S. beef products over concerns with BSE.  Their action reverses an earlier deal the Taiwanese government had negotiated with the U.S.

After Tuesday’s vote, the American Institute in Taiwan—which is the de facto U.S. embassy on the island—slammed the move, saying it “disrespects both science-based standards as well as the findings of Taiwan’s own risk assessment.”

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) says it is extremely disappointed that Taiwan has reversed its decision.

“In our view, the issues expressed by politicians in Taiwan have absolutely no basis in scientific fact and fly in the face of Taiwan’s own risk assessment,” says Gregg Doud, NCBA chief economist. “To suggest that there are any safety concerns related to U.S. beef is outrageous.

“This is a purely domestic political issue in Taiwan,” said Doud. “U.S. beef producers are sick and tired of being used as a political football.”

The U.S. has exported record sales to Taiwan over the last three years, with beef exports valued at: $101 million in 2006; $107 million in 2007; and $128 million in 2008. “We’re on pace to set a record for the fourth year in a row in 2009, with $114 million in beef sales through October,” Doud says.

Doud says NCBA is urging the Obama Administration to explore every available option to rectify the situation as soon as possible.

Two key farm-state senators are also criticizing Taiwan’s action.  Nebraska’s Mike Johanns urged Taiwanese officials “to rely on science-based International standards when making trade decisions.” Montana’s Max Baucus points out that “Taiwan’s own risk assessment, the World Health Organization and numerous other studies have all concluded that U.S. beef is safe-including ground beef, offal and process products.”