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US east coast ports ready for perishables fight when new Panama opens
THE Port of Savannah is opening a new cold storage facility this summer, highlighting the growing competition between east coast ports jostling for South American reefer cargo when the expanded Panama Canal opens next month, says London's Loadstar.
The 100,000-square foot refrigerated storage and cold treatment facility is being built by Georgia-based PortFresh Logistics and is located 15 miles from Savannah's Garden City container terminal.
PortFresh Logistics and Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) hope the facility will help the US east coast gateway improve its position as an entry-point for Latin American perishables.
Said PortFresh Logistics CEO Brian Kastick: "More than 90 per cent of imported fruit and vegetables entering the US east coast arrive via north-east ports. That means cargo headed to the south-east must be trucked down, adding time and expense to the logistics supply chain."
The new facility will increase Savannah's cold storage capacity to 930,000-square foot Savannah Garden City Terminal, the fourth biggest container facility in the US, has 84 refrigerated container racks and 733 chassis plug-ins, powering 2,749 reefer boxes at a time.
Although Savannah trails Houston and Los Angeles in US export volumes, and boasts the largest throughput of refrigerated poultry exports, it lags behind regional rivals in terms of perishable imports.
The GPA says this initiative - coupled with investment in new reefer capacity and Savannah's proximity to growing consumer markets - Atlanta, Charlotte, and Memphis - has helped refrigerated imports at the port grow 24 per cent between 2011 and 2015.
Nearly 140,000 TEU of reefer cargo was handled at Savannah in fiscal year 2015, and growth this year is anticipated at 4.5 per cent.
Savannah isn't the only US port ramping up its reefer and cold storage capacity looking to capitalise from next month's opening of the expanded Panama Canal. Houston, Wilmington, Everglades, Miami, Manatee and Jacksonville have all added - or plan to add - significant cold storage capacity, while others have dredged harbours and extended quays in the anticipation of serving larger ships.
The 100,000-square foot refrigerated storage and cold treatment facility is being built by Georgia-based PortFresh Logistics and is located 15 miles from Savannah's Garden City container terminal.
PortFresh Logistics and Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) hope the facility will help the US east coast gateway improve its position as an entry-point for Latin American perishables.
Said PortFresh Logistics CEO Brian Kastick: "More than 90 per cent of imported fruit and vegetables entering the US east coast arrive via north-east ports. That means cargo headed to the south-east must be trucked down, adding time and expense to the logistics supply chain."
The new facility will increase Savannah's cold storage capacity to 930,000-square foot Savannah Garden City Terminal, the fourth biggest container facility in the US, has 84 refrigerated container racks and 733 chassis plug-ins, powering 2,749 reefer boxes at a time.
Although Savannah trails Houston and Los Angeles in US export volumes, and boasts the largest throughput of refrigerated poultry exports, it lags behind regional rivals in terms of perishable imports.
The GPA says this initiative - coupled with investment in new reefer capacity and Savannah's proximity to growing consumer markets - Atlanta, Charlotte, and Memphis - has helped refrigerated imports at the port grow 24 per cent between 2011 and 2015.
Nearly 140,000 TEU of reefer cargo was handled at Savannah in fiscal year 2015, and growth this year is anticipated at 4.5 per cent.
Savannah isn't the only US port ramping up its reefer and cold storage capacity looking to capitalise from next month's opening of the expanded Panama Canal. Houston, Wilmington, Everglades, Miami, Manatee and Jacksonville have all added - or plan to add - significant cold storage capacity, while others have dredged harbours and extended quays in the anticipation of serving larger ships.
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