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Port of Virginia ready to accept reefer imports from S America

US importers of perishable goods from South America that require cold treatment before moving inland can now tap the port of Virginia, after the US Department of Agriculture added Virginia to its In-Transit Cold Treatment Pilot programme, which was started in 2013.

The programme allows cargo to enter the participating ports after undergoing a two-week cold treatment process to safeguard against shipments bringing in fruit flies and other pests, reported IHS Media.

Virginia joins Miami, South Carolina, port Everglades, Tampa, Jacksonville, port Manatee, and Savannah in the programme. It enables shippers to send the cargo through southeast gateways rather than through northeast ports as was previously the case. On the Gulf coast, New Orleans is a programme participant.

The benefits of the designation can be seen in the trajectory of Savannah since it joined the programme in 2015. The volume of reefer cargo through the port has jumped by 25 per cent, and the port's share of the US loaded reefer market has risen from 2.35 per cent to 2.5 per cent.

Virginia is now the northernmost of the southeast ports vying for the cold container business that pits it against northeast ports such as Wilmington, Delaware, and Philadelphia, which specialise in reefer cargo.

"This designation is important for logistics and supply chain managers importing agricultural products because it means shorter total transit times from origin to market," CEO of the Virginia Port Authority, John Reinhart, was quoted as saying.

He said he expects cargo including pears, grapes, berries and apples from a variety of South American ports on the north-south routes, including Argentina, Peru and Uruguay. Once the cold treatment programme is established, the port expects to send goods through its rail network to the Midwest, including Chicago, Ohio, Kentucky and parts of Pennsylvania.

The cargo also will go on the port's 125-TEU barge service to the Richmond Marine Terminal, to which a power pack was added so that it can take reefers, and also through the port's rail intermodal facility that sends trains daily trains to Front Royal, just northwest of the port, which serves the Washington DC area, he said.

"We just think it's a natural evolution of the refrigerated logistics supply chain," Mr Reinhart said. "This helps to diversify our cargo mix. It opens the door for new cargo and provides an important service for owners and shippers of perishables. This helps to support our strategic growth plan and further establishes the port of Virginia as a global gateway."

Norfolk held 2.1 per cent of the US market for loaded reefer imports, based on data for the first eight months of 2017, according to PIERS, a sister product within IHS Markit.

Of the other southeast ports in the programme, port Everglades holds 6.7 per cent of the market, Savannah has 2.5 per cent, and Tampa has 0.2 per cent, based on figures for the first eight months of the year. Jacksonville has 1.4 per cent of the US reefer import market, Miami has 2.7 per cent, and Manatee has 1.6 per cent.