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Stephen Dunphy / Times staff columnist
The Newsletter: Market share up at local ports

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Annual figures from the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), an industry group of shipping companies and stevedores, also show the dominance of Southern California ports, especially the Port of Los Angeles. Almost 60 percent of all West Coast cargo now moves through the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. L.A. is the coast's largest port, with 34.8 percent of all cargo.

The PMA measures all cargo: containers, general cargo, lumber, logs, vehicles and bulk cargo.

Tacoma handles 9.7 percent of cargo, up from 9.2 percent in 2002. It is a major port for auto and truck imports, with more than 11 percent of the market.

Seattle is at 7 percent, up from 6.9 percent in 2002.

The Port of Portland handled 6.7 percent, down slightly from 2002. Oakland handled 7.9 percent, up slightly from 2002.

West Coast ports are big engines of economic growth. Four million jobs depend on the trade that moves through ports in California, Oregon and Washington, according to the PMA.

Seven percent of gross domestic product and about $750 billion is tied to the loading and unloading of cargo. In the next two decades, the volume is expected to double.

Containers make up the bulk of West Coast cargo movement, accounting for more than 70 percent of trade.

Containers are counted by using what's called TEUs, or 20-foot equivalent units. But they come in many sizes, the PMA report shows: seven in all, measured at 20-, 24-, 35-, 40-, 45-, 48- and 53-foot lengths.

Rich people are fairly confident about the state of the economy but are beginning to worry about the future. The latest McDonald Financial Group Affluent Consumer Confidence Index stood at 57 in April, up from 56 in January, the highest index score since the survey began in January 2003.
 
In the survey, however, confidence among the affluent about the future of the national economy has declined. Just over half of respondents said they believe the economy will get better in the next three months, down from January, when 61 percent said the economy would get better.

In the survey, 9 percent said the national economy would get worse in the next quarter, up from only 3 percent who said so in January. McDonald is a subsidiary of KeyCorp.

Regional airlines continue to grow, handling increasing numbers of passengers. The Federal Aviation Administration estimated the regionals will carry 128.7 million passengers this year, an 18.4 percent increase over last year.

By 2015, the small regional jets and turboprops operated by these carriers are expected to carry more than 226 million passengers.

The fleet is changing, according to Aviation Week and Space Technology, a trade magazine. Last year, turboprops made up 23 percent of all commercial aircraft; regional jets made up 12 percent. By 2023, turboprops will all but disappear from the fleet, with regional jets making up 27 percent of all aircraft.

Regional airlines have three ways to survive, according to Aviation Week: "control costs, control costs and control costs."

Stephen H. Dunphy's phone: 206-464-2365. Fax: 206-382-8879. E-mail: sdunphy@seattletimes.com.

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