Philadelphia port reports 16.7% increase in cargo volume

Philadelphia handled 449,122 TEUs of cargo, or 22.2 percent more than the 367,499 TEUs it did in 2013.    The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority (PRPA) said its terminals handled 5,950,319 tons of cargo in 2014, a 16.7 percent increase over the 5,100,385 tons handled in 2013.
   It was the fifth consecutive year of double-digit cargo growth at the Port of Philadelphia.
   The port handled 449,122 TEUs of containerized cargo, or 22.2 percent more than the 367,499 TEU that it did in 2013.
   In October, the State of Pennsylvania created an “Intermodal Cargo Growth Incentive Program” that commits up to $1 million annually for five years to encourage ocean carriers to transport more cargo to and from the Port of Philadelphia by awarding $25 per container lift above previously reported lift totals.
   Former Gov. Tom Corbett said the program was part of his administration’s work to ensure that Mediterranean Shipping Co. continued to call the port. While the strings of ships operated by MSC and Maersk’s 2M alliance do not call Philadelphia, MSC has said it will operate a string connecting North European ports with Philadelphia and Boston.
   The Port of Philadelphia said it handled 1,382,861 metric tons of breakbulk cargo in 2014, 14.4 percent more than the 1,208,350 tons in 2013. Steel volumes were up 49.5 percent to 394,717 tons handled, and forest products were up 28.2 percent to 614,843 tons.
   The port said while the amount of fruit and cocoa beans it handled as breakbulk cargo fell, this was only because more of those commodities are being containerized. “These cargoes aren’t genuinely down at all, only that a portion of them are shifting to containers,” the port said.
   The port handled 150,637 automobiles (principally new Hyundai and Kia vehicles), 16.6 more than the 129,239 automobiles handled at the port in 2013, and 1,437,664 tons of liquid bulk products last year, a 13.4 percent increase compared with 1,267,915 tons in 2013.
   PRPA noted a $350 million project to deepen the Delaware River’s main channel from 40 to 45 feet is close to 70 percent complete, with the latest rounds of bids to deepen the remaining areas now being evaluated for an anticipated spring 2015 resumption of the project.
   PRPA said its board is also evaluating 16 proposals for Southport, a major expansion project.