Maersk's APM Terminals-Virginia to make US$61 million this year

THE addition of APM Terminals' Portsmouth facility is expected to contribute US$61.4 million in revenue this fiscal year to Virginia International Terminals Inc, the Virginia port authority's operating unit.

According to a revised budget by the port authority's board of commissioners, VIT's revenue is expected to rise to $279.3 million for the fiscal year that began July 1, a 28.2 per cent increase from the original budget's $217.9 million, reports Norfolk's Virginian Pilot newspaper.

The increase is based on an expected 27.2 per cent increase in container volume "as a result of the addition of the APMT-Virginia facility." The port authority will again be handling the Maersk and Evergreen shipping lines and their related volume.

The combined operating revenue for the port authority and VIT slipped 1.2 per cent to $183.6 million in the 11 months ended May 31, compared with the same period a year earlier. They also show an operating loss of $9 million in the same period.

Those results reflect a 1.6 per cent decline in the container volume handled during the fiscal year ended June 30. "The first half of the fiscal year was pretty rough," Russell Held, the authority's deputy executive director for Development, was quoted as saying.

The port handled 935,764 units from January-to-June, a 12.5 per cent increase from the first six months of 2009.
(Source:www.schednet.com)