Port of Philadelphia shows healthy volume growth

Container throughput at the port was up 2.3% year-over-year for first quarter 2015.    The Port of Philadelphia saw volume growth in “every major cargo category” in the first quarter of 2015, according to a statement from the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority. Cargo categories counted in the port’s metrics include containers; breakbulk cargoes like steel, forest products, cocoa beans, and project cargo; roll-on/roll-off; liquid bulk; and other/miscellaneous cargoes.
   The Port of Philadelphia handled 100,203 TEUs in the first quarter, a 2.33 percent increase compared to the first quarter 2014. In terms of tonnage, the port’s container cargo throughput increased 5.84 percent to 684,360 metric tons.
   Breakbulk volumes at the port increased across the board, with steel up 1.22 percent to 105,398 metric tons, fruit up 16.68 percent to 66,390 tons, forest products up 34.98 percent to 162,879 tons, cocoa beans up 18.98 percent to 45,859 tons, project cargo up 21.69 percent to 11,380 tons, and other/miscellaneous cargoes up 975.65 percent to 2,076 metric tons.
   The port’s ro/ro business, primarily Hyundai and Kia automobiles, increased 2.31 percent to 36,683 vehicles moved during the first quarter.
   Throughput of liquid bulk cargoes grew 1.54 percent to 338,748 metric tons compared to the same period last year.
   “Our latest cargo figures are gratifying to see,” PRPA Chairman Jerry Sweeney said of the first quarter results. “Not only do they once again show healthy gains when comparing the same periods of this year and last year, but they also show, for the first time in a long while, that all cargo sectors showed growth, not just some or even most.”
   The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority is an independent agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that manages, maintains, and promotes the publicly owned port facilities along the Delaware River in Philadelphia.