Posted on August 18, 2016
By James Ewinger, The Plain Dealer
Cargo tonnage on the St. Lawrence Seaway is down 11 percent for the quarter ending July 31, according to a report released by the seaway, and the Port of Cleveland is down by about 7 percent.
Jade Davis, the port’s vice president for external affairs, said the decline is illusory because last year was so successful. The port is outperforming what it did year-to-date in 2014 by about 200,000 tons, he said, “and we could still catch up to 2015 by the end of the year.”
He said in a telephone interview Thursday that tonnage moving through Cleveland has declined only slightly “due to our increased cargo from container shipping.”
Since 2014, the first full year following a major investment in container cargo, tonnage moving through the port has quadrupled.
“We are the only container port on the Great Lakes, and have been able to catch market share from East Coast and Gulf ports,” Davis said.
“Despite some slowness in the market to start the season, the Port of Cleveland has seen steady growth in our month-to-month tonnage numbers thus far in the 2016 season,” David S. Gutheil, the Port of Cleveland’s vice president for maritime and logistics, said in the seaway’s quarterly report.
“We are also seeing increased interest in the project cargo market, through additional inquiries from customers seeking to move their cargo via the St. Lawrence Seaway and avoid congestion at coastal ports,” Gutheil said.
Project cargo refers to cargo that will not fit in a standard container or that requires special handling and loading.
Port President and CEO Will Friedman said in a press release that the creation of the Cleveland-Europe Express (CEE) is a major driver of the port’s growth. It is the Great Lakes’ first regular international container shipping service in 50 years, he said.
CEE offers direct access between Cleveland and the port of Antwerp in Belgium.
The Port of Cleveland consists of four public terminals on the lakefront. There are also 13 private terminals on the Cuyahoga River.
Davis said some of the drop in seaway shipping is attributable to a decline in project shipping of natural gas due to fluctuations in the natural-gas and oil markets.
“We continue to see steady volumes on imported steel from Europe,” Gutheil said, “while consistently bringing on new customers via the Cleveland-Europe Express, particularly in the container segment.
“We are also seeing increased interest in the project cargo market, through additional inquiries from customers seeking to move their cargo via the St. Lawrence Seaway and avoid congestion at coastal ports,” he said.
“In July, we completed construction of a new 21,000 square foot warehouse,” Gutheil added. “This new facility, partially funded through a grant secured through the Ohio Department of Development Logistics program, will be used for trans-load opportunities and increases our inside storage capacity to 320,000 square feet.”
A report by Pennsylvania-based Martin Associates says the Port of Cleveland is producing $3.5 billion in economic value -– a billion-dollar increase since 2008, when economic impact was last assessed.
The Martin report said the port directly and indirectly supports 20,000 jobs.
Source: cleveland.com
