Jacksonville to challenge Miami for top port spot

FLORIDA's Port of Jacksonville has set its sights on becoming the state's leading port, toppling Miami as top dog as plans are carried out to raise container volume 25 per cent by 2012.

Raul Alfonso, the Jacksonville Port Authority's senior director of trade, development and marketing, said more customers will move cargo through Jacksonville instead of other south east US ports, such as Savannah, as Jacksonville wins over new shipping line and creates more competitive prices.

But analysts say international trade will weaken by the end of the year. Furthermore, Jacksonville's forecast that increased Asian trade would have a US$1.8 billion annual economic impact has been pushed back at least two years by the recession, said Roy Schleicher, the authority's chief commercial officer, in a report by the Jacksonville Business Journal.

The report noted that TraPac Inc's terminal isn't operating at full capacity, and Hanjin Shipping's terminal is expected to open two years later in 2014 than first expected.

"We're on target for [transporting] 800,000 TEU for this year," Mr Alfonso said. "Within two years, we should be up to one million TEU and competing with Miami as the state's top container port."

The port hopes that eventually shipping companies' exposure to Jacksonville through its service to Asia via the Suez Canal will entice them to bring their own ships to call. MOL and "K" Line allow their shipping partners, APL, Hyundai Merchant Marine, Cosco, Yang Ming and Hanjin Shipping, to place shipments on the Suez service.

Mr Alfonso believes the major trade lanes for container growth will be to Asia and Brazil. The port's robust service to the Caribbean and Latin America can enhance its ability to work as a hub for goods going to or coming from Europe and Asia.
(Source:www.schednet.com)