Tacoma’s gain is loss to Port of Seattle

A recent report shows that Tacoma's Port traffic is growing, to the point that it has surpassed Seattle in terms of volume handled and significance of economic impact, but it's not all good news.

The moves of several major shipping lines to Tacoma have contributed to growth here, pushing Tacoma past our neighbors to the north, but larger trends in shipping are worrisome for both ports. Increasingly shippers are skipping West Coast ports and heading straight for the other half of the country via the Suez Canal or soon-to-be-even-larger Panama Canal. Increasing warehouse costs and decreasing developable land also mean that much of the freight that does come in to the Port of Tacoma is finding its way out of the Port to warehouses in places like Sumner and Kent.

The ports of Tacoma and Seattle are both described as "peaking markets," losing market share over recent years, but they're not going without a fight. We'd love to know what's being said in those private meetings between the ports of Seattle and Tacoma...