Philadelphia Port Sees Continued Growth in Imports

Philly.com

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Photo Credit: Michael Bryant / Staff Photographer
With changes along the Delaware River and the expanded Panama Canal, the Philadelphia port is seeing business booming here

The Philadelphia port continues to be on a roll, with more containerized freight, more liquid bulk cargoes, and more cars arriving at Philadelphia’s 15 piers and terminals on the Delaware River.

In July, the most recent month for which statistics were available, overall cargo tonnage was up 12 percent, while freight arriving in 20- and 40-foot metal containers rose 15 percent compared with the same month last year, port officials said.

Across all the nation’s ports, imports increased 6.6 percent in July on higher shipments from Asia, the fifth straight month of growth, said the research firm Panjiva, which tracks commercial shipments worldwide.

In Philadelphia, the biggest increases were in goods from Chile, Peru, and Brazil. During the first six months through June, container growth in U.S. East Coast ports was up 11.2 percent, while container volumes in Philadelphia were up 19.2 percent, according to PhilaPort, a state agency that owns piers and terminals on the Delaware.

The container increases were attributable to several new shipping services at Packer Avenue Marine Terminal.
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Soon there will be another new shipping service. CMA CGM, a French container shipping company, is partnering with Seatrade, which specializes in refrigerated cargoes, and the French shipping line Marfret to bring refrigerated goods, such as fruit and meat from Australia, to Peru and then through the Panama Canal to Philadelphia.

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