b'20American Journal ofTransportation ajot.com(INROADScontinued from page 13) dredsofenormouswindturbine the motor carrier industry and respectscomponents, says the port chief.the job that they do every day, GPAsGalvestonhaslongbeenapre-Lynchsaid.GeorgiaPortscreatedferred port for wind turbine importers this initiative to increase communica- due to its skilled labor, rail and high-tion between our port operations andwayaccessandoptimumclearances, safety teams and motor carriers. some almost 250 feet long, Rees says.Morethan13,200motorcarri- Indeed,GalvestonWharveshas ersareregisteredasactiveusersofbeen importing on-shore wind energy the Port of Savannah, ranging from acomponents since 2007. Chris Corn-single owner-operator and one driver,well,directorofoperations,Gulf andlargecompaniesthatrepresentRegion for Metro Ports, a stevedore dozens to hundreds of drivers. companysaid,Theyareliterally coming in from all over the world. He toldAJOT in an interview, The (BUSINESScontinued fromcomponentsincludetowers,blades, page 18) hubs, nacelles, drive trains.Last year, property. Its not a new commodity forwe handled 41,000 metric tons.the port. We used to handle a lot ofThis year, components for a wind cattle back in the day, he says. energy project in Canada are coming Anothersourceofgoodbusi- through Galveston Wharves, he says, (DEMANDcontinued from page 14) significantinvestmentsinMagde- nessfortheportarethevesselsattractedinpartbytheportsFTZ andomni-sourcingextendsbeyondburg, Germany, along with a new teststackedupandwaitingtoenterwhich allows the shipper or customer semiconductors,asminingcompa- andassemblyfacilityinPoland,tothe Houston ship channel, says Rees.to avoid paying duties and taxes for nies also seek to diversify their supplystrengthen its leading-edge fab in Ire- They are coming into our port, fuel- cargogoingtoCanada.Moreover, chains.Thisshiftwasfurtherhigh- land and establish a resilient and sus- ing up, changing crews, getting CoastMetro Ports has 42 acres of laydown lightedduringtheCOVID-19pan- tainable semiconductor supply chainGuardinspections,andusingeveryspace at the port for the project car-demic, emphasizing the importance ofinEurope,encompassingboththeone of our available berths. That busi- goes,anacreageamountCornwell omni-sourcingtoreducedependencefront end and back-end processes. ness kept us going during COVID. expects will grow in 2024. on single markets. Overall,thefuturelooksbrightHe expects wind energy cargoes Historically, Asia, particularly China,d iversifyinG thes uPPlyC hain forGalvestonWharves.ItrecentlymovingthroughGalvestonWharves South Korea, and Taiwan, has been theHealsorevealedthatsomeofreceived a $1 million grant to developtogrow.Notonlydoweimport primary hub for front-end and back-endDHLIndustrialProjectscustomersashoremicrogridtopowercargoreplacementcomponents,butwind semiconductormanufacturing,sup- are in the process of reshaping theirships. It is also one of the first to makefarm sites are growing in the US. To ported by government initiatives. supply chains to be more diverse. liquified natural gas (LNG) serviceshandle the current and future volume, However, in the post-COVID era,This can be a logical move if itavailable to ships. MetroPortshas10mobilecranes the US enacted the CHIPS Act to bringmakes the supply chains more flexi- But real revenue growth is likelyonportpropertywithvaryinglift some of the manufacturing back to theble and more robust. But that doesntto come from Americas move towardstrengths. The crane capacity ranges country and mitigate geopolitical risks. mean these customers are taking theirgreater alternative energy. Last year,from 150 to 1,000 tons. There are two States such as Texas, New York,operations out of certain regions: Intheportdesignateda22-acreFreeladder tracks to load rail with a capac-Idaho, Ohio, Oregon, and Arizona arefact, growth decisions are made withTradeZone(FTZ)toimporthun- ity of 80 rails each. activelyseekingtobenefitfromthea view to the resilience of the supply CHIPS Act. chain,whichcanmeanthatcus-In Europe, near-shoring is gather- tomers are prepared to open further ing momentum too with the Europeanlocations in Vietnam, Thailand, and Chips ActestablishingaframeworkIndia (China + 1) in addition to theirHWYH2O.COMforstrengtheningthesemiconductorexisting presence in China. Distribut-ecosystemintheEUandattractinging risks reduces dependency on one considerable investment. supplier, one trade route or one mode Theshiftingdynamicsoftheof transport.semiconductormarkethaveresultedNevertheless,manycomponents inanincreasedneedforlogisticsandpartscontinuetobesourcedin and transport solutions, driven by theChina, its value chain being so deep establishment of new fabrication (fab)and having such capacity that it would sites, Lu noted. beverydifficulttoreplaceinthe We are actively involved in fabcoming years, Lu observed.constructionprojectsworldwide,Forthemomentatleast,we including key semiconductor hotspotsarent seeing any major shift toward likeIdaho,Arizona,Ireland,Ger- amoreregionalizedeconomyona many,andTexas.However,duetoglobal level. Some of our data even the confidentiality of our NDA agree- points to the opposite: in the first two ments with customers, we are unableyearsofthepandemic,tradeflows to disclose specific details. covered greater distances than before As chip technology advances, theon average.complexity and scale of capital equip- Another aspect of the re-shaping mentandfabconstructionprojectsof supply chains in the semiconduc-have increased, he explained. tor industry is the adoption of modu-Our customers rely not only onlarizationwhichinvolvesshippingW I T HOOUURR N E WAANNDDourcorelogisticsservices,suchasfabricated units in a modular mannerI M P R O V E DGGAATTEEWWAAYYinternational and domestic transporta- to reduce installation time and costs, tion, but also our expertise in handlingparticularlyinlow-costareaswithI N C E N T I V E ,TTHHEERREE HHAASSoversize cargo and special equipment. favorable climates such as VietnamN E V E RBBEEEENN AA BB E T T E RE T T E RCommenting on the market in theor Malaysia. T I M ETTOO SSTTAARRTT SS PP PNNHHI I P I I GGEU specifically, Lu said the bloc is wit- O NTTHHEE GGRREEAATT LL A K E SA K E Snessingexcitingdevelopmentsinm odularizationd emands on W I T HHHWWYY HH OOsemiconductor investments. Legacyf orwarders 2IDMs(integrateddevicemanufac- Modularizationinthesemicon-turers) like Infineon are investing inductorindustryposesspecificchal-new fabs in Dresden, Germany, whilelengesforforwarders. These include STMicroispartneringwithGlobalthe co-ordination of the transportation FoundriesforanewfabinFrance.anddeliveryofmodularunitsfrom TheformationofESMC(theEuro- various locations which can be com-peanSemiconductorManufacturingplex;specializedhandling:modular Company),apartnershipbetweenunits often require due to their sensi-TSMC Taiwan Semiconductor Man- tivity and fragility; compliance: mod-ufacturingCompany),Bosch,NXP,ular units may need to comply withFor mmoorreeiinnffoorrmmaattiioonn::andInfineon,willensureastablespecificregulationsandstandardsE ai h wyyhh22oo@@sseeaawwaayyccaasupply of semiconductor chips for theduringtransportation,suchascus- em ill hwEuropean automotive industry. toms requirements and safety regula-Additionally,Intelismakingtions, Lu said.'