THE Port of Virginia, centred on Norfolk, posted a 2
THE Port of Virginia, centred on Norfolk, posted a 2.4 per cent year-on-year increase in container volume in fiscal year 2018 ending June 30 to 2.8 million TEU, said the port authority. 'We finished the fiscal year in positive territory - our fourth consecutive fiscal year of growth,' said Virginia Port Authority executive director John Reinhart.
'Our import container volume was up nearly seven per cent, truck volume was up almost five per cent, barge volume was up six per cent and our volumes at Virginia Inland Port (VIP) and Richmond Marine Terminal (RMT) grew as well,' he said.
In June, the port handled 223,842 TEU, which was a year-on-year drop of 3.4 per cent reported the American Journal of Transportation.
As in April and May, June's volumes were off when compared to the same months last year because of an ongoing effort to limit the number of empties flowing across the terminals during construction.
The port is in the midst of a US$700 million capacity expansion at its two primary container terminals, Virginia International Gateway (VIG) and Norfolk International Terminals (NIT).
'We were off from our forecast, but much of that can be attributed to the effort to limit the empty container imports and exports,' Mr Reinhart said.
'As a result, our total empty container volume was down by more than 76,000 TEU. What's important is that our action is having its desired intent, which is to increase efficiency at the terminals and ensure that loaded containers are our priority right now,' he said.
June's volumes at VIP and RMT were up 21 per cent and 66 per cent, respectively; breakbulk tonnage increased 13 per cent and total barge traffic was up 17 per cent.
