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Port Cargo Trends: Global Port Tracker, Seaway System

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Global Port Tracker: Import Container Volume Slows, Growth Likely at Least through April

Import cargo volume at the top U.S. containerized retail merchandise handling container ports will ebb this month but continue growing at least through April, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released December 5 by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

Global Port Tracker’s conclusions are based on its survey and analysis of inbound container traffic flows at the ports of Charleston, Hampton Roads, Houston, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Oakland, Port Everglades, Savannah, Seattle and Tacoma.

"Retailers instituted costly contingency plans early on to ensure that holiday merchandise would be on the shelves or sitting in a warehouse ready to go," said Jonathan Gold, the NRF’s vice president for supply chain and customs policy."However, we are still hearing from retailers experiencing delays at West Coast ports, and retailers are also looking ahead to the spring season. We believe it’s imperative for President Obama to encourage the parties to seek the help of a federal mediator to resolve the ongoing contract negotiations so serious solutions to address the ongoing issues can be discussed and the uncertainty that has plagued our nation’s busiest ports for months can finally be brought to an end."

Ports covered by Global Port Tracker handled 1.56 million TEUs in October, the latest month for which after-the-fact numbers are available. That was down 2 percent from the preceding month but up 8.5 percent from October 2013.

Subsequent month estimates and forecasts: November – 1.41 million TEUs ( 4.8 percent); December 1.37 million TEUs ( 3.8 percent); January 2015 1.41 million TEUs ( 2.5 percent); February 1.34 million TEUs ( 8.0 percent); March 1.33 million TEUs ( 2.2 percent): April 1.46 million TEUs ( 2.1 percent). Global Port Tracker is predicting a calendar year 2014 total of 17.2 million TEUs, up from 16.2 million in 2013 and 15.8 million in 2012.

Grain, Steel Surge through the St. Lawrence Seaway Trade Corridor

The U.S. St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation reports some 35 million metric tons of cargo transited the international waterway from March 28 through November 30 of the 2014 navigation season.That was up 5 percent from a year ago, thanks mainly to double-digit gains by steel (80 percent), salt (48 percent), and grain (44 percent).

"The story in Milwaukee is steel," said Acting Port Director Paul Vornholt. "November continued a year-long trend that has the Port of Milwaukee logging one of its highest tonnages of steel in recent decades. Among the factors affecting steel volumes are global and regional economic conditions, reliability, efficiency of delivering steel through the Seaway, and cost-effective port operations."

Shipments at the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor are projected to exceed last year’s total by more than 25 percent, with a steady stream of vessels scheduled through the end of the year. "If this pace continues, the port’s annual shipments could challenge the all-time record set in 1994," said Jody Peacock, vice president for the Ports of Indiana. "We’re seeing major increases in our highest volume cargoes and steel is leading the way, up more than 100 percent year-to-date versus 2013. Grain and salt shipments are also more than double last year’s total, while limestone and project cargoes are on the rise as well."

Also in November, Burns Harbor handled an unusual project cargo shipment that included a fuel processing unit and heavy-haul trailer that weighed a combined 885,000 pounds. The large unit was unloaded at the port’s ro/ro dock and transported at night with a police escort over a pre-certified highway route to an Ohio refinery.

Despite weather-related delays, positive momentum continued into November at the Port of Toledo. Overseas salt, steel, and pig iron arrived on Polsteam, Canfornav and Flinter vessels at Midwest Terminals. Some of those vessels then moved a short distance up the Maumee River to load soybeans for export. Corn and soybeans from ADM and The Andersons were also loaded onto lake vessels for transport to Canada and trans-shipment overseas.

"I believe it’s fair to say that manufacturing has rebounded in the Toledo region and industry is taking advantage of the port for direct access to international suppliers of steel and raw materials," said Joe Cappel, PPM®, director of cargo development for the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority."The combination of strong demand for steel and aluminum, a good grain harvest and the opening of our new Ironville Terminal has been a recipe for success this season."

Weather was also a factor at the Port of Oswego Authority in November. "While there were some delays, the port continues to be on target with aluminum shipments," said Zelko Kirincich, port executive director and CEO. "We received three shipments of aluminum on McKeil barges totaling 20,228 MT and we expect a peak in December as the season comes to a close."
 

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