From the San Francisco Chronicle:
Port of Oakland officials are pressing shipping lines traveling from places like China and Japan to make the East Bay their first port of call. In doing so, the port is challenging its larger and more powerful counterpart in Southern California for a piece of the sizable import market.
The campaign is not about mere bragging rights, but rather the need for the port to balance its export-heavy operations with imports, said Chris Lytle, the Port of Oakland’s executive director.
“There are a lot of of import customers in Northern California that prefer to get their cargo first,” Lytle said. “We’re not trying to be like Long Beach/Los Angeles, but time is money for these companies.”