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East Coast Ports Build Capacity For Growth
Packer Avenue Marine Terminal at PhilaPort
Closer-to-market approach and robust business help propel uptick.
BY MATT OGG
Containerized cargo, infrastructure upgrades and a cold treatment pilot program now in its sixth year have helped Southeast U.S. ports share in the riches of growing fruit
imports.
ese developments have promoted a clos-
er-to-market approach in the trade, cutting out unnecessary back-and-forth transport for fresh produce. However, imports still remain robust for Northeast ports on the Delaware River.
According to PhilaPort ( e Port of Philadelphia), the ports under its purview — including Wilmington, DE, the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal, Gloucester (NJ) and others — imported $3.6 billion worth of fruit in 2018. is represents almost a third of the total import value if predominantly over- land-focused Mexico is excluded.
How is this possible when Southeast ports have gained so many advantages in recent years? Quite simply, the pie has gotten bigger.
ere are many idiosyncrasies within the sector, most notably the crucial role of these Northern ports for the United States’ largest sea-freight fruit supplier, Chile, because of its strengths in fumigation capabilities and prox- imity to population-dense markets.
But the issue goes deeper than that, both literally and guratively. e Panama Canal expansion has prompted more imports from the West Coast of South America, and ports have adapted to accommodate larger post-Panamax liners.
34 / AUGUST 2019 / PRODUCE BUSINESS
“It’s had a big impact,” says Francis Werner, director for U.S. operations at Capespan North America, Camden, NJ. “[Because of ] the dredging of the rivers and just the overall depth of the ports themselves, they’re able to handle the much larger vessels now.
“Philadelphia is still handling a large volume of the imports. Savannah, GA, has certainly started to make its niche, as well, and I don’t think it’s been to the detriment of Phil- adelphia,” he says. “It’s opened up avenues for distribution of customers in the Southeastern region of the country for quicker delivery.”
He notes this opportunity for the Port of Savannah and other hubs — also including Houston in the Gulf — has been partly the result of the shift to containerized cargo, which has increased dramatically.
“Bulk ships from the past have become more and more obsolete, so you’re seeing a greater volume of imported fruit coming via container as opposed to break bulk ship,” notes Werner. “ at’s from everywhere, from New Zealand, from South Africa and from South America; containerized cargo is a predominant amount of the overall import volume.”
He says containerization also means the fruit arrives in better condition as it’s generally been climate-controlled for the entire voyage, and in contrast, break-bulk shipping is more di cult on the produce itself.
Manuel Alcaino of Decofrut, a Chile- based company with U.S. o ces specializing in quality control, holds a similar view.
“ e big change undoubtedly is the change from reefer ships to containers — this is a big change, but it’s not news. It’s been like that for several years,” he says. “ is has opened up lots of options, and the options have started to materialize in the past two or three years.”
GEORGIA ON EVERYBODY’S MIND
e Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) due for completion in 2022 will deepen the channel from 42 to 47 feet at low tide. Much of the fruit imported there goes straight to Americold-owned PortFresh Logis- tics, which has 100,000 square feet of cold storage space.
“It’s a refrigerated facility that’s inland, so you have to take a truck,” says Alcaino. “It o ers a variety of services — Walmart is there with a very interesting project — as well as other importers that attend to retailers in the South, such as Publix and others.”
Pat Compres, chief executive of Advance Customs Brokers & Consulting LLC in Miami, says Customs and Border Protection (CBP) inspections can be performed at these cold-storage facilities in Savannah, as well as the completion of retreatment for cold treat- ment of the fresh produce.
“Ease of entry into the port and highway infrastructure provides a desirable alternative for truckers,” she says. “Collaboration and sensitivity of CBP and USDA at this port have positive rami cations for the importer.”
Chris Logan, Georgia Ports’ senior director