Queen City: Cincinnati's potential in global trade

In a world of increasingly complex global relationships, it is important to consider where one’s local area fits in to the picture. Recent work by Jennifer Pitzer, PhD, research associate, looks at trends in global trade and how Cincinnati may become a major player.

The share of global trade in containers has been rising. Containers are used to ship a variety of goods because they are a more secure form of transportation than bulk shipping. In particular, ports European ports have been developing and expanding hub and spoke networks of container-on-barge transportation to connect the coasts to the interior through the inland waterways. Europe has also been exploiting intermodal transportation, bringing together barge and rail, to lower shipping costs and reduce environmental impacts. The European experience provides an example for the United States.

The Mississippi River and its tributaries provide an extensive inland waterway network that can reach the majority of the U.S. population. Ohio is advantageously situated within a day’s drive of much of the U.S. market. Cincinnati, with its position on the Ohio River, has the potential to be a transshipment point for producers to access the U.S. market.

As a potentially underutilized mode of transportation, the inland river system in the U.S. offers the opportunity to decrease bottlenecks at coastal ports, reducing delivery time and, ultimately, prices. In particular, the Ohio River operates at about one-third of its capacity, indicating that there is room for increased traffic. Additionally, the Ohio River is generally more likely to be navigable year round as far north as Cincinnati. This feature of the river is particularly important portions of the when the Ohio River in Cincinnati is more likely to be navigable year round, as opposed to the Upper Mississippi River, which is a strategic advantage.

While Ohio is close to many domestic consumers, it is also in the nation’s bread basket. Many agricultural producers are turning to containers as they ship their products to specialized markets around the world. Cincinnati provides an exit point for these goods to travel to the Gulf coast, quickly and efficiently, further opening up the Midwest to international trade.

Finally, Cincinnati also has rail access at the river. The existence of rail allows for the development of intermodal terminals such that containers, and other goods, can be on- and off-loaded between trains and barges to reach the U.S. markets. Greater use of rail and barge can take trucks off the roadways, reducing the greenhouse gases and traffic congestion.

Cincinnati has a history of being a major commercial center, with its advantageous location on the river and access to producers and consumers. By revisiting how these assets work in the modern world, the Queen City has the potential to be a global force for efficient, and environmentally conscious, international trade.