THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 11, 1997 TAG: 9702110267
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 73 lines
The steady stream of coal that flows from the veins of Appalachia through the port of Hampton Roads swelled for the third straight year as shipments rose 3.5 percent in 1996.
The region's three coal terminals loaded 53 million tons of coal into waiting ships last year, up from 51.2 million tons in 1995, according to the Hampton Roads Maritime Association.
Coal shipments through the port are still well below the record year of 1991, when the region's terminals dumped 65 million tons of coal into the holds of waiting ships.
But coal is by far the port of Hampton Roads' largest single commodity. Hampton Roads is the nation's largest coal port thanks to its proximity to, and rail connections with, the coal fields of West Virginia, Kentucky and southwest Virginia.
``To put it in perspective, when you have a major chunk of the market, it's kind of hard to grow quickly,'' said Wilson J. Browning Jr., president of W.J. Browning Co., a coal forwarder and bulk vessel agency in Norfolk.
Coal shipments provide steady jobs for thousands of railroaders, terminal employees, lab workers, tugboat crews and others in the port. And coal accounts for more than a quarter of revenues at Norfolk Southern Corp., the Norfolk-based railroad.
Last year, 558 vessels arrived in Hampton Roads to be loaded with coal, including barges and ships, known as colliers, according to the maritime association. That's up from 485 in 1995.
Norfolk Southern owns the region's largest coal terminal, Pier 6 at Lamberts Point in Norfolk. The terminal employs 700 people.
The other two terminals are in Newport News. The smaller is Pier IX Terminal Co.; the other is Dominion Terminal Associates, owned by a coalition of coal companies. Both are served by CSX Transportation, Richmond-based CSX Corp.'s railroad.
Norfolk Southern's Pier 6 shipped 29.5 million tons of coal last year, a slight gain over its 1995 total of 28.9 million tons, the maritime association reported.
Colliers sail from Pier 6 to ports around the world. Major markets include Italy, France, Brazil, Belgium and Spain, according to Norfolk Southern. One of the fastest-growing markets is Germany, where coal-mining subsidies may soon be repealed.
``We're still looking for Germany to open up. . . ,'' Browning said. ``It's a wild card that could mean 3, 4, 5 million tons more in a year.''
Aside from the German possibility, there's no real new demand on the near-term horizon. Growth is coming from shifts in market share, Browning said.
``The pie is pretty stable,'' he said. ``There's no reason to think the sky is going to fall, and there's no reason to think things are going to take off.''
Still, this year has started well thanks to a harsh winter in Europe, Browning said.
Meanwhile, Pier IX Terminal boasted the region's biggest growth in 1996. Its tonnage grew 700,000 tons, or 10.8 percent, to 7.1 million tons.
Dominion Terminal Associates' tonnage rose 3.6 percent to 16.4 million tons. ILLUSTRATION: File photo by Michelle McDonald
[coal]
Graphic
Source: Hampton Roads Maritime Association
Coal shipped from Hampton Roads
(in short tons)
1993: 44.2 million
1994: 43.3 million
1995: 51.2 million
1996: 53 million
KEYWORDS: COAL SHIPMENTS PORT OF HAMPTON ROADS