Pickups sail from port as economic slump sets in
By BILL HENSEL JR. Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Nov. 25, 2008, 11:32PM
Julio Cortez Chronicle
Toyota Tundra trucks await shipment to Venezuela from the Port of Houston. Despite a slowing economy, business is bustling at the port.
The docks at the Port of Houston remain busy despite the economic slowdown, which is directly responsible for some high-profile exports rolling out, officials said Tuesday.
Toyota Tundra pickups from the company’s San Antonio plant are being shipped from Houston to Venezuela as Toyota shifts its focus for the American-made product from the struggling U.S. marketplace to Latin America. It doesn’t hurt that Venezuelans pay pennies per gallon for subsidized gasoline to fill heavy vehicles like Tundras, which get up to 14 miles per gallon in the city.
It marks the first time Tundras have been exported from the U.S., according to Toyota. Tundra exports to Latin America are forecast at about 1,000 vehicles a year, the company said.
More than 300 Tundras are scheduled to be shipped this week aboard the NYK Line from the Turning Basin Terminal, operated by the Port of Houston Authority.
The Tundra plant in San Antonio opened in 2006 to much fanfare, with the Japanese company holding great hopes for selling the truck in the pickup haven that is Texas. But a run-up in gasoline prices and the emergence of the economic slowdown forced the plant to shut down for three months. It reopened Nov. 11.
Tight credit markets and consumers pulling back on purchasing have hit automakers hard, analysts have said. Toyota said in announcing its move to export vehicles from the U.S. — it also is shipping Sequoia SUVs to the Middle East and Latin America — that it wanted a leaner inventory here.
Toyota announced its new exports from the U.S. last month. While it is the first for these models, the company said it actually has exported vehicles from the U.S. as far back as 1988.
“Our broad lineup allows us to satisfy customer needs in North America and beyond,” Toyota Motor Sales President Jim Lentz said in a prepared statement.
Toyota’s San Antonio plant is operating with just one of its two shifts. The company said it would restart its second shift in the spring if truck demand returns.
Toyota said it will be shipping the Tundra to several markets in Latin America besides Venezuela.
On the inbound side of the equation, the Port of Houston said steel imports nearly have hit record numbers this year.
More steel came through in October than in any month since August 1981, said John Horan, the port authority’s director of trade development.
A total of 918,484 tons of steel was brought in on 37 vessels in October, bringing the amount of steel for the first 10 months of the year to more than 4.7 million tons, Horan said. That’s a 25 percent increase over the roughly 3.8 million tons for the same period last year.
Port Executive Director Tom Kornegay said the sizable steel shipments are likely the result of projects that require a long lead time for shipping. That would mean many decisions would have been made before the economy began slipping.
Port statistics released Tuesday show that the number of ships calling at the Houston Ship Channel is up 5 percent, with 6,764 ships through October. The number of containers is up 6 percent.
Even automobile imports are up 4 percent, with 52,000 vehicles arriving during the first 10 months of 2008 versus 50,000 vehicles for the same period last year.
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