City of Laredo Initiative Brings Chilean Wood Products Through Laredo
Written by admin, Nov 18, 2011, 0 Comments
Courtesy Xochitl Mora,
(Laredo, Tx)-The City Laredo is the new primary port of entry for Chilean wood products entering the United States. Since early 2010, the City of Laredo has been building a relationship with the Chilean Commerce of Production and Commercial Development (Camara de la Producction y del Comercio de Concepcion), or CPCC as it is known by its acronym in Spanish. The group recently opened a CPCC office here in Laredo, to better facilitate the import of their products through Laredo into the United States.
“A little more than a year after the City of Laredo’s visit and historic symposium with exporters and businesses from Central and South America America, the fruits of those labors are starting to be harvested,” said City of Laredo Mayor Raul G. Salinas. “Laredo is officially ‘Open for Business’ with Chile!”
Earlier this week, rail cars loaded with the first containers from Chile containing wood molding crossed into Laredo via the Kansas City Southern (KCS) railroad. These containers will be taken to the KCS Sanchez Yard off of State Highway 359. This first shipment of 15 containers is being handled by Laredo Logistics International, a partner with the City of Laredo in its efforts to attract business imports from Central and South America through Laredo.
The logistics route being used for this shipment is the same route the City of Laredo has been promoting in Central and South America. These containers will use the NAFTA corridor: Concepcion, Chile – Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico – Laredo, TX. From Laredo, these containers will be distributed to Kendelton, TX; Chicago, IL; and Kansas City, MO among other destinations in the central United States. Wood products represent Chile’s second largest export product to the U. S., and the CPCSS has announced that this is the new preferred route for wood products from Chile.
By bringing these containers via the NAFTA corridor that the City of Laredo has been promoting, the exporter in Chile will save 10-12 days on shipping time, and about 15% on logistics costs. For this reason, the CPCC opened their office in Laredo and is committed to using Laredo as its HUB for the distribution of wood products into the United States.
