seagull 9. фев '11, 10:10
Philadelphia port posts 17% rise in 2010 cargo throughput
The US port of Philadelphia has posted a 17% increase on its total cargo throughput for 2010, attributed to the "recovering national economy and a variety of new business relationships."
The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority (PRPA) said it handled a total of 3.64 million metric tonnes (mt) of cargo last year against 3.11 million mt in 2009, Portworld reports.
Its containerised cargo was up 18% to 264,059 TEUs from 222,900 TEUs handled the previous year, the authority said.
Non-containerised cargoes, meanwhile, rose to 1,108,329 mt against 840,876 mt handled in 2009, up 32%.
"We went out and and aggressively sought new business, even if many believed it unlikely," said PRPA Executive Director James T. McDermott, Jr.
The authority particularly cited that automobile manufacturers Hyundai and Kia made Philadelphia its preferred US East Coast port of entry last year.
"Automobiles have been arriving at PRPA's Packer Avenue Marine Terminal since spring of 2010, automobile business here went from being virtually non-existent in 2009 to about 69,000 units being moved in 2010," said PRPA.
Further, shipping agent Sea Star Line has established a major Puerto Rican service at the port while Scandinavian paper manufacturer M-real returned to the port bringing along its ocean carrier, Wagenborg Shipping.
Additionally, its MSC European service which commenced in 2009, "matured in 2010, significantly increasing activity at the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal.”
"Principally, we got our 45-foot channel deepening project finally moving forward, and we made major strides in turning our Southport marine terminal project from a dream to a reality," McDermott said.
"Both of those initiatives signaled to the world that we seriously mean business, and directly or indirectly helped our cargo increases last year."
The PRPA is an independent agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania tasked with the management, maintenance, marketing, and promotion of publicly owned port facilities along the Delaware River in Philadelphia, as well as strategic planning in the port district.
businesstimes.com.sg