The Port of Portland on Thursday officially opened Oregon Container Terminal (OCT), amid hopes that the latest private management agreement will help revive the former Terminal 6 as a competitive option for shippers in Oregon, southwest Washington and Idaho.
“Global connections like these give Oregon a competitive edge and help secure our economic future,” said Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, at the launch ceremony. “They ensure that cranberries grown along the coast, hay harvested in the Willamette Valley, wheat from Eastern Oregon and products made in the Portland metro area can reach global markets efficiently, competitively and sustainably.”
Kotek has been involved in a years-long effort to revitalize the moribund terminal. Opened in the 1970s, T-6 has seen a decade of instability that led Oregon shippers to truck their shipments to ports in Washington state for their ocean needs. Only about a third of Oregon-originating container freight moves through Portland…