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AVERAGE ANNUAL COMMERCE OF BELLINGHAM, WASH., 1927-1936

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GENERAL

As in the case of most of the other Puget Sound ports, Bellingham is dependent very largely upon the adjacent forests for its principal industries and commerce. During the period 1927-36, inclusive, 92.3 percent of the exports and 87 percent of the domestic shipments consisted of forest products. Considerable commerce has developed in the handling of canned fish, this commodity being received from Alaska and other coastal points, warehoused at Bellingham, and distributed from there through both export and domestic channels. There has been some increase in the receipts of sulphur and chemicals, with corresponding increases in the shipment of pulp, due to the operations of pulp mills in or adjacent to the port.

A study of the commerce tables shows that a large part of the logs received for processing are imported from British Columbia. The immediate territory surrounding Bellingham is agricultural in character and there are possibilities that the port may develop a considerable volume of commerce in the shipment of dairy products, foodstuffs, and other farm products, with a corresponding gain in the receipt of general cargo for distribution to the same territory.

No public wharf has been provided especially for the concentration and shipment of lumber. Most of the shipments of this commodity are made direct from the mills, supplemented by overside loadings from lighters at the commercial wharves and the port commission dock. The port of Bellingham terminal, together with several other docks, supplies facilities for the handling of general cargo and these are sufficient for the current needs. The port terminal is equipped with transit sheds, a grain elevator and track connections, the latter being so placed as to permit direct unloading from vessel to car.

Practically all the receipts and shipments are consumed or produced in the adjacent territory and seldom involve line haul by the railroads. The transcontinental export and import rates enjoyed by the larger Pacific coast ports are not applicable at Bellingham. Exports and imports move on domestic rates which are on a considerable higher level than are the export and import rates.

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