THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 4, 1994 TAG: 9412050223
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 104 lines
The ramp from the back of the freighter Texas hung suspended about 10 feet off the pier at Norfolk International Terminals.
About a quarter-mile away, across the shipping terminal, row upon row of bright red tractors sat waiting to be loaded into the hold of the 858-foot Wilhelmsen Lines ship.
A barge and a crane had to be moved out of the way before the Texas, combination container and roll-on/roll-off ship, could maneuver the loading ramp into place so the tractors could be driven aboard.
Hampton Roads is one of the leading ports in the United States for the export of farm and construction equipment. And such exports are booming, thanks to the weak dollar and a rebounding global economy.
The port has handled the export of 23,926 tons of tractors in the first eight months of 1994, up 67.2 percent from 14,308 tons in the same period of 1993. And that doesn't include other heavy equipment, which is measured separately.
It's an aspect of the port that many residents of the region rarely see or know much about.
Farm and construction equipment is just a sliver of the total exports shipped through the port of Hampton Roads, but the work is labor-intensive.
``It's a big business for us because there's more labor entailed than in just loading containers,'' said Joseph A. Dorto, general manager and chief executive of Virginia International Terminals Inc.
VIT operates Norfolk International Terminals, Portsmouth Marine Terminal and Newport News Marine Terminal for the state agency that owns them, the Virginia Port Authority.
The tractors, combines, backhoes, bulldozers and other heavy equipment are hauled into the port's terminals by rail on either Norfolk Southern or CSX trains from Midwestern plants.
Manufacturers such as Case Corp., Caterpillar Inc. and John Deere Co. export tons of farm and construction equipment through several East Coast ports to overseas markets.
It's difficult to compare Hampton Roads to the ports of Baltimore, Charleston, S.C., and Savannah, Ga., which are also active in the business. Each port measures its exports differently.
The 23,926 tons of tractors shipped through the Hampton Roads port in the first eight months almost match the 26,200 tons it shipped in all of last year, which was up 11.1 percent from 1992.
Tractors account for less than 1 percent of the port's total exports, but this year are 22.4 percent of its break-bulk exports.
The increase in farm and construction equipment exports is being driven by the weak value of the dollar compared to other major currencies. An inexpensive dollar makes it more attractive for foreigners to buy an American-made tractor rather than tractors made in Europe or Japan.
``We're more competitive throughout the world because of the lower value of the dollar,'' said Gordon Tjelmeland, a spokesman for John Deere.
Moline, Ill.-based Deere shipped more than 200 green tractors, combines and other farm machinery to Turkmenistan in the former Soviet Union during the summer. Deere shipped all of it by rail to Portsmouth Marine Terminal, where it was loaded on Atlantic Container Line ships bound for Helsinki, Finland.
Eastern Europe, Russia and other former states of the Soviet Union have become a major new market for U.S-made farm and construction equipment, Tjelmeland said.
Other nations, including Argentina, South Africa and Australia, have become good markets too, he said.
The roughly 60 Case tractors sitting in rows at Norfolk International Terminals last week are now bound for Australia aboard the Texas. Longshoremen working for the stevedore firm Ryan-Walsh Inc. also loaded a pair of blue Ford tractors aboard the Texas.
Australia is Case's second-biggest market after Western Europe, said Jeff Keim, manager of international transportation at Racine, Wis.-based Case.
Most of its Australia-bound tractors pass through Norfolk, Keim said. Case exports to Europe through Baltimore.
``Norfolk's a major port for us,'' he said. ``It's probably our second-largest port after Baltimore.''
Where Case ships through depends largely on where the roll-on/
roll-off shipping lines call, Keim said. Transportation costs from the plant to the port and port handling costs also figure in, he said.
Costs for port handling can add up quickly because of the labor associated with it. The awkward equipment must be unloaded from the trains, stored until the ship arrives and then driven from the staging area onto the ship. Often the terminal does some preparation work too - installing batteries, removing tires for shipment, Dorto said.
Case could ship to Australia through either Norfolk or Savannah on Wilhelmsen Lines, but most of its shipments come to Norfolk.
``We expect your port to remain competitive, and you certainly have so far,'' Keim said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
JIM WALKER/Staff
Tractors wait to be loaded onto the freighter Texas at Norfolk
International Terminals last week.
Photo
JIM WALKER/Staff
Tractors are loaded onto the Texas, a combination container and
roll-on/roll-off ship, at Norfolk International Terminals last week.
Hampton Roads is one of the leading ports in the United States for
the export of farm and construction equipment.
by CNB