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Port Commissioner John Creighton said he worries the Port and taxpayers will lose money in the long run. ”Talking is well and good, but I’m concerned that terminal operators are trying to lead us down a certain path” toward restructuring leases in their favor, he said. ”I am concerned because I think any restructuring acceptable to the terminal operators will likely let them off the hook for tens of millions of future lease payment obligations … and only paper over their problems in the short term.”
From the Seattle Times:
Faced with continuing decline at its seaport, the Port of Seattle has agreed to discuss restructuring business agreements with the companies that operate its terminals.
It’s the Port’s latest attempt to respond to competition from other West Coast ports and changes in the shipping industry. The Port’s 25-year plan calls for a doubling of its shipping business, but the past five years have placed the seaport in jeopardy as competition and a soft market have driven down business on Seattle’s waterfront.
The three companies that operate Seattle’s seaport proposed the meetings, which require approval by the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission...

While rivals like Cargill Inc and Louis Dreyfus Corp have been mainstays of the global sweetener trade for decades, grains-focused Bunge only entered in 2006, and began buying up sugar mills in Brazil a year later.
When Bunge Ltd bought five sugar mills in Brazil’s Sao Paulo state four years ago for $1.5 billion, they were considered the crown jewels of a burgeoning biofuel industry.
Now, they may be little more than millstones, hard-to-sell assets at a time of crushed margins and weak prices.
In the industry’s first major capitulation to depressed market conditions, Bunge’s new chief executive announced on Thursday he will explore options, including a sale, for the loss-making business.
More at the Chicago Tribune

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