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Bulk & Breakbulk: 3 Strategies for Success

How do you survive in a down market?

It’s never easy to do in a slow or slumping economy, but port officials and maritime community members have some suggestions:

1 Take advantage of niche opportunities.

With the attention of the maritime industry overwhelmingly focused on containers, smaller ports often can prove quite successful in snaring bulk cargo. An aggressive marketing effort by the Port of San Diego has sent its bulk/breakbulk volume soaring by 75 percent in the last five years, and Wilmington is generating business in the walk on/walk off sector — transporting pregnant cows around the globe.

2 Factor in all the costs when you’re negotiating or planning.

One example: Houston’s low labor expenses are less of an advantage than they once were, given the high cost of transporting goods across the country. West Coast ports are using this as a selling point for some cargoes, saying transportation expenses more than make up for the cost of using their unionized facilities.

3 Collect information and distribute it effectively.

Ports convey more than just physical goods. Facilities, marketing people and researchers often accumulate masses of information about all the players in a community that can be turned to highly effective use. Packaged properly, this material can prove to be a powerful way to reinforce relationships.