Houston now exports to Havana, Santiago

Houston now exports to Havana, Santiago

A French shipping company has been authorized by Washington to provide
weekly cargo transport from Houston to Cuba, The Houston Chronicle
reported Sunday.
The Marseilles-based CMA CGM Group, a container line, has begun to carry
food, medical supplies and other products to Havana and Santiago de
Cuba, via Kingston, Jamaica.
The company received a U.S. government license through October 2011 to
move cargo to Cuba from the United States.
For Cuba, the new shipping route means faster delivery of products, The
Chronicle says. Instead of waiting weeks or months for goods from other
continents, Texas goods can arrive in Cuba much sooner.
Prior to this new route, Texas producers seeking regular service had to
haul their Cuba-bound products to Florida ports. That added costs and
delays. Or companies had to charter an entire vessel for the occasional
shipment to Cuba.
"When a marketplace opens up, everybody wants to get into the action,"
said Port of Houston Chairman Jim Edmonds. "Cuba is attractive to us
from the standpoint of its proximity."
"What we're witnessing is the important first step" to increased exports
to Cuba, Jeff Moseley, president and CEO of the Greater Houston
Partnership, told The Chronicle.

January 17, 2010 in Economy & Trade, U.S.-Cuba relations
Cuban Colada (17 January 2010)
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/cuban_colada/2010/01/houston-now-exports-to-havana-santiago.html