LA Ports Commission Strategic Plan

The Ports Association of Louisiana has commissioned The Shaw Group to create a strategic plan for the collective future of Louisiana’s 30 ports. The $700,000, 10-month study, aims to position Louisiana’s extensive port system to garner a larger share of future cargo coming into the United States. According to the American Association of Port Authorities, freight moving through U.S. ports is expected to grow 50 percent by 2020 and containerized cargo could double during that period. Louisiana has three of the 10 highest-tonnage ports in the nation and stands to gain a significant portion of new business by investing now in new transportation infrastructure, creating port partnerships and building new industrial facilities, according to Roy Pontiff, the association’s president and executive director of the Port of Iberia. The group hopes to have a draft and preliminary findings by the time the Louisiana Legislature convenes in March.