SHIP FIT.

Shipping lines find fit for apparel trade.

ALL TOLD, COSTA RICA'S FOREIGN TRADE REVENUES ARE LESS THAN HALF that of Chile, Colombia or Uruguay. Yet this small Central American country's top port, Puerto Limon, handles more boxed cargo than any of those nations' main ports. In fact, the port landed at No. 7 on the 1999 American Association of Port Authorities list, outranking better known power ports like Veracruz in Mexico, Venezuela's La Guaira and Rio de Janeiro.

Why so popular? One single industry--clothing. "Going southbound from the states to Costa Rica, the No. 1 cargo, of course, is fabrics," says Mark Miller, a spokesman for Crowley Maritime Corp., a leading shipping line." And, going northbound, it's apparel."

Costa Rica is a leading country for the seesaw apparel business, where fabric is exported by U.S. clothing companies, sewn and stitched by cheaper Central American labor and then returned to the United States as finished garments.

Crowley, APL and other shipping lines say they expect the booming apparel trade to grow more thanks to so-called "Nafta parity" legislation taking effect Oct. 1. Under new U.S. legislation, Nafta-linked tax incentives enjoyed by Mexican clothing companies will be extended to five Central American countries, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica.

Central American and Caribbean companies had complained that the advantages Mexico enjoyed under Nafta threatened to force the smaller countries out of the textile industry, one of the biggest trading commodities for their region. The new law is expected to remedy that.

"Our customers have expressed concerns about the capacity and frequency of service in light of the recently passed initiative," says Rinus Schepen, senior vice president and general manager of Crowley's Latin American service. In response, Crowley increased stops between Port Everglades, Florida. and Puerto Limon--as well as Manzanillo, Panama--by about 40%.

APL, meanwhile, recently started a new service between Miami and Puerto Cortes, Honduras, as well as Puerto Barrios, Guatemala, to handle the growing apparel trade.

The shipping lines aren't just expanding ship schedules. Crowley, for example, uses ships that can handle cargo other than standard metal containers. The vessels make it possible for apparel shippers to use garment-on-hanger containers and other larger shipping boxes.