Matson Statement Regarding Proposed Jones Act Legislation

HONOLULU, Dec. 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Matson issued the following statement today in response to proposed legislation relating to the Jones Act introduced by Congressman Ed Case: 

Hanging Hawaii's higher costs of living on shipping ignores what local economists and journalists have consistently found over the years, which is that shipping costs are just one of many cost factors that go into local pricing of consumer goods and represent a small fraction of price differences between Hawaii and the mainland.

The reason the Jones Act has had such strong bi-partisan support in every Congress and administration in modern times is because it is important to homeland security and national defense, as well as the security of service to remote communities like Hawaii and Alaska, from an economic standpoint. The importance of being able to rely on critical supply line transportation is easy to take for granted but hard to overstate. 

The Jones Act also supports more than 650,000 jobs in the U.S., including thousands here in Hawaii.

About Matson

Founded in 1882, Matson (NYSE: MATX) is a leading provider of ocean transportation and logistics services. Matson provides a vital lifeline to the domestic non-contiguous economies of Hawaii, Alaska, and Guam, and to other island economies in Micronesia. Matson also operates a premium, expedited service from China to Southern California and provides services to Okinawa, Japan and various islands in the South Pacific. The Company's fleet of owned and chartered vessels includes containerships, combination container and roll-on/roll-off ships and custom-designed barges.  Matson Logistics, established in 1987, extends the geographic reach of Matson's transportation network throughout the continental U.S.  Its integrated, asset-light logistics services include rail intermodal, highway brokerage, warehousing, freight consolidation, Asia supply chain services, and forwarding to Alaska. Additional information about the Company is available at www.matson.com .

SOURCE Matson, Inc.