EsThe Port of Virginia has taken delivery of the first six of 86 new rail-mounted gantry cranes that will add around 40% to the port’s capacity by the time works are completed by 2020. The addition of capacity, equivalent to one million TEUs annually, will be added as each set of cranes is commissioned, with the first set due online in April.
Panjiva analysis of official port data shows the facilities were already running close to capacity, with 2.31 million TEUs of loaded containers handled in 2017, following 7.0% growth in total handling vs. 2016 – for reference the capacity expansion adds around 13% annually.
One challenge for the port will be onward shipment, with most of the growth in the past two years having come from imports (which climbed 7.9% annually over the past five years) than exports (only 1.9% growth annually). That may require additional investment in facilities beyond the port, which could be forthcoming as part of the Trump administration’s long awaited infrastructure plan as outlined in Panjiva research of January 4.
Source: Panjiva
Utilizing the increased capacity will also require drawing on extra deliveries from the major steamship lines, including through new routings. The largest shipper for inbound traffic in the 12 months to January 31 was Hapag-Lloyd with 210,839 TEUs handled ahead of number two MSC (141,762 TEUs).
Competition will become more intense in 2018 however – the combined COSCO-Orient Overseas would have handled 172,091 TEUs after expanding 32.9%, while Ocean Network Express’s volumes would have totalled 186,562 TEUs after an 8.2% contraction.
Source: Panjiva
