New Articles

Port of Long Beach

[shareaholic app="share_buttons" id="13106403"]
Written by Haylle Sok

Jon Slangerup, chief executive

FTZ No. 50
Big Ship Ready: Yes
Rail: BNSF, UP, Pacific Harbor Lines
Highways: I-710
Days to China: 13
Top Exports: Bulk Coke, Wastepaper, Food
Cargo Types: Container, Liquid Bulk, Dry Bulk

What infrastructure additions has the port made to support shippers over the past two years?
We’ve been working very hard on a major terminal expansion. We call the project Middle Harbor. It will increase capacity from a million TEUs per year to over 3 million. In fact, it will represent probably the third or fourth busiest port in the United States. Phase one of that, 50 percent of its capacity, comes on stream this fall, and of course it’s all big ship ready.

What is your most under-appreciated asset?
I think that our people probably are unsung in terms of how incredibly talented and successful they are at managing what is a very complex infrastructure here. I would say they’re probably not nearly as appreciated or recognized for what they really do every day.

What’s your elevator pitch?
We are the most efficient port complex in the United States. We have the natural advantage of deep water and are the closest and fastest gateway from Asia into the interior of the U.S. Our rail connections are unmatched. We have 1.5 billion square feet of warehouse space adjacent to the port and within a 100-mile radius—and all of that creates a supply chain and logistics structure that is really unmatched.