Posts Tagged “Philadelphia Regional Port Authority”
The Philadelphia Regioanl Port Authority reports refrigerated cargo trade into the Delaware River increased by 9 percent last year. Now operating with the PhilaPort name, the organization recently released its latest trade statistics.
The Delaware River ports handled fresh fruit worth $3.6 billion in 2019. Philadelphia has its own seaport infrastructure. But the port of Wilmington, DE, and New Jersey Delaware River port facilities substantially add to the overall trade numbers of river trade totals.
The Delaware River ports in 2019 received a total of 4 metric tons of refrigerated cargo. Of this total, bananas contributed 47 percent of the tonnage.
Pineapples, which typically arrive with bananas on containerized cargo ships, accounted for 14 percent of the tonnage. Citrus fruit accounted for 6 percent of the river’s tonnage, while grapes and melons each represented 4 percent of tonnage.
Refrigerated meats accounted for 7 percent and “other” commodities filled the total tonnage, with 18 percent.
Reefer containers brought 28 percent of the river’s total cargo tonnage, despite the presence of much heavier items like dry containers (31 percent) and liquid bulk (20 percent).
The river’s container trade has grown by an average of 12 percent per year since 2012. The reefer container cargo growth shot from 88,461 20-foot equivalent units in 2012 to 219,619 in 2019.
Nearly two dozen members of Mexico’s produce industry were recently in Philadelphia to observe firsthand what this port has to offer in handling and distributing Mexican cargo arriving by ocean.
The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority hosted the Mexican Inbound Trade Mission. Also in attendance were government representatives and regional industry members who have been active in the Ship Philly First effort to create an ocean link between the east coast of Mexico and Philadelphia, which is a seaport specializing in the fresh and vegetable produce trade.
SeaLand, a refrigerated container steamship company stepped up to link Mexico and Philadelphia through its new SL Atlantico Northbound weekly service, which began in late January. While there is certainly room for growth, all indications are that the route has a strong start.
Fresh Mexican produce is the primary target for the northbound service, but frozen meats and chilled foods are other key products that suit Atlantico Northbound. Dry goods, such as auto parts and many other commodities have access to the service. In broad numbers, Pennsylvania and Mexico have two-way trade with one another with a total value of $8 billion.
This new ocean freight option gives Mexican exporters a less-expensive alternative for reaching the populous eastern United States and Canada. Forty percent of the U.S. population is within a one-day truck delivery of the Port of Philadelphia.
The Mexican produce exporters located south and east of Mexico City have been tagged as having the most to gain through this ocean freight vs. trucking through Nogales. AZ or the state of Texas.
SeaLand sails from Veracruz on Tuesdays to make a stop in Altamira, which is another port further north on the Gulf of Mexico coast in the state of Veracruz. The ship then departs for Philadelphia and arrives the following Wednesday, six days later.