The Merchants Exchange, Your Exchange.
Our History On December 6, 1879, the Merchants Exchange of Portland, born out of Boss Shenck’s Saloon, was formally incorporated. By 1914, the Exchange had grown from being just a grain and shipping information center to the region’s first official market for trading wheat before being acquired by the Portland Grain Exchange in 1923. Today, the Merchants Exchange still holds the trading rules for grain through the Grain Committee although it no longer acts as a grain trading association. Operating a Communications Center 24-hours a day, seven days a week, the Exchange is an integral part of the maritime industry of the Columbia, Willamette, Snake River basins. As a membership-based not for profit, the Exchange provides 24-hour vessel intelligence, answering service, cargo and vessel statistics as well as extensive association management for maritime industry associations. At almost 140 years old, the Merchants Exchange continues to grow, expand, and innovate in order to keep pace with the ever-changing maritime trade and advancing technology. Just as it was in 1879, the Exchange is still the premier destination for accurate ship information in the region.
Boss Shenck’s Saloon, birthplace of the Merchants Exchange.
Our Mission & Our Members Our mission is to be the leading provider of information and related services to all stakeholders of the Pacific Northwest intermodal transportation system and to support related business interests for domestic and foreign commerce. We are committed to that mission and supporting the maritime and transportation industries by providing our members with a wide variety of services. We want to work with you to tailor our services to meet your needs. As the leading provider of information and related services along the river, our membership is diverse and includes: ship owners & operators, vessel agents, tow & barge companies, freight forwarders, admiralty attorneys, customs brokers, facilities, terminals, ports, trade associations, and vessel service providers working along the Columbia-Snake-Willamette River System.
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Merchants Exchange of Portland
February- March 2018