Philadelphia sees strong growth in cargo volumes
The port of Philadelphia handled 5.3 million tons of containerized and breakbulk cargo last year, a 21 percent increase over 2005.
The Philadelphia Region Port Authority (PRPA) said containerized cargo handled at its facilities increased 21 percent to 247,211 TEUs. In weight, that equated to 1.9 million metric tons, up 14 percent.
The port credited several new container services calling at its Packer Avenue Marine Terminal for the big increase.
“In particular, Hamburg Sud’s Trident service, which has strengthened the port’s connections with Australia and New Zealand and established direct service between the Port of Philadelphia and Europe, has been very successful since its inception in early 2006,” the port said.
Breakbulk cargo was up 25 percent.
The port said several types of cargoes showed gains:
* Steel, up 54.6 percent to 1.55 million tons.
* Paper handled at PRPA's forest products center increased 9.7 percent to 784,777 tons.
* Project cargo, up 66.6 percent to 10,628 tons.
* Lumber, up 3.7 percent to 36,160 tons.
The port also handled 108,394 tons of fruit, 179,129 tons of cocoa beans, 26,675 tons of wood pulp, and 6,664 tons of military cargo. The port said those were “consistent with 2005 figures.”
In addition, many breakbulk commodities are also handled at private terminals on the Delaware River and are not reflected in the PRPA statistics.
PRPA's liquid bulk facility at Pier 179 handled 628,813 tons, 29.6 percent more than in 2005.
“The maritime industry is intensely competitive, yet we’ve once again managed to hold our own and make some significant gains in 2006, both in terms of tonnage and the quality of our facilities and services,” said Brian Preski, PRPA chairman.
He used release of the statistics as an opportunity to urge dredging of the Delaware River’s shipping channels to 45 feet.
“If we are able to post our current successes without the deep water we need, one can only imagine the jobs and economic growth we’ll be able to contribute to our region once we accomplish our channel-deepening project,” he said.
Philadelphia sees strong growth in cargo volumes
