THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 28, 1994 TAG: 9409280438
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
The Virginia Port Authority dedicated two mammoth new warehouses at the Newport News Marine Terminal on Tuesday that could help it retain and attract new break-bulk cargo business.
However, the new warehouses could be for naught if the port fails to negotiate lower break-bulk handling rates with the International Longshoreman's Association, port officials said.
Port officials cited falling tonnage in several key break-bulk commodities including cocoa beans, rubber and plywood. Despite the declines in some specific commodities being shipped, general cargo tonnage moving through the Hampton Roads port continued to rebound this year through August after a weak 1993, the authority announced Tuesday.
The new warehouses give the port ``an important new sales tool in their constant efforts to increase our market share of cocoa beans, steel, paper and other break-bulk commodities,'' said Port Authority Chairman A. Russell Kirk, in a speech at the dedication ceremony.
``As Virginia's share of these targeted commodities grows, the result will be more vessel calls, more truck and rail traffic, and more man-hours for Virginia's longshoremen,'' Kirk said.
The new warehouse facilities, which cost nearly $6 million, add more than 250,000 square feet of long-term storage space at the terminal for break-bulk goods such ascocoa beans, a selling point for the port in retaining and attracting the lucrative break-bulk business.
Ships serving the port loaded and unloaded 5.15 million tons of general cargo through August, up 14.3 percent from 4.51 million tons of cargo in the same period last year. General cargo includes cargo transported in containers and break-bulk cargo such as cocoa beans, rubber, steel and lumber.
The port's break-bulk cargo tonnage is up 6.2 percent to 611,474 tons through August compared to 575,584 tons in the first eight months of last year.
``Most of the increase in break-bulk is due to the movement of over 100,000 tons of steel through Newport News Marine Terminal,'' Phil Newswanger told the the authority's board at its bimonthly meeting after the ceremony.
While steel shipments were up 160.7 percent through July, other crucial commodities were down significantly from last year, said Newswanger, market analysis and business development director for the authority.
Cocoa bean shipments fell 37.2 percent, plywood was down 40.8 percent and rubber slipped 7.7 percent through July compared to the first seven months of 1993, Newswanger said.
Such falling break-bulk shipments are the main reason why the port is trying to negotiate better wage rates with the ILA, which represents port workers.
The ILA is doing its own survey of how the port is doing relative to other East Coast ports for break bulk commodities, said Joseph A. Dorto, general manager and chief executive of Virginia International Terminals Inc., the operating arm of the port authority.
``We think they'll discover that some of that (the port's tonnage decreases) is showing up at other ports,'' Dorto told the authority's board.
The port, negotiating through the Hampton Roads Maritime Association, will meet with the ILA within 60 days to continue the negotiations, he said.
The problem is that competing ports, Philadelphia and New York in particular, have better wage rates on commodities such as cocoa beans, Newswanger said.
ILA officials could not be reached for comment.
The port's container tonnage climbed 15.5 percent to 4.54 million tons through August, compared to 3.93 million tons in the same period last year.
Another $5.1 million of improvement projects at Newport News Marine Terminal also were dedicated Tuesday. They included a new bulkhead, the replacement of the Pier B warehouse's roof and a new cargo storage yard at Pier B.
At the dedication ceremony, port officials also outlined a $6.5 million plan to renovate part of Pier B to create a cruise ship terminal.
The project will add a second story to one part of the pier's warehouse, adding a second floor with lounges, catering facilities, phones, restrooms and retail space to help the port attract more cruise ship business. The project is slated to begin in the spring with completion by next September. by CNB