High costs and sub-par productivity threaten continued growth at the Port of New York and New Jersey, industry leaders warned at the annual Port Industry Day symposiu, the Journal of Commerce reports.
“Perhaps it’s something no one wants to hear, but if you were to compare the cost of doing business in New York – which carriers do all the time – to other U.S. East Coast ports, we are the most expensive,” said Joseph Curto, president of the New York Shipping Association.
Claudio Bozzo, president of Mediterranean Shipping Co. (USA), and Rick Larrabee, the port authority’s director of port commerce, sounded a similar theme.
Larrabee cited planned expansions at port terminals including Port Newark Container Terminal, where he said MSC has committed to increasing its cargo volume from the current 414,000 20-foot equivalent container units a year to 1.1 million TEUs by 2030.
Bozzo said MSC has added larger ships, increased its New York-New Jersey port calls from 230 to 330 a year, and boosted its cargo volume at the port by 40 percent in the last six years. But he warned that the port’s costs are among the highest and its productivity is
“one of the worst” of any U.S. port, and said this leaves an opening for competing ports.
“This is one of the areas that we collectively are going to have to continue focusing on,” Larrabee said. “Our competition is not asleep at the stick.”
Larrabee noted that the port authority has invested $2.1 billion in capital investments and terminal operators have invested $1 billion over the last decade, but said these investments won’t pay off without improved productivity.
“We need to keep finding ways to maximize the real estate we operate on, and one way to do that is to improve productivity,” Curto said. “Whether that be on the ships or the truck gates, improved productivity will allow more business to flow through the existing facilities.”
Productivity will be a top issue when waterfront employers and the International Longshoremen’s Association open negotiations within the next few months on a coastwide contract to replace the one that expires next Sept. 30. Newly elected ILA President Harold Daggett has vowed to resist further automation.
Curto said the New York-New Jersey port has unique work practices, many of which predate containerization, that unnecessarily raise costs and are no longer defensible. It’s a theme he has raised previously.
“Perhaps it’s something no one wants to hear, but if you were to compare the cost of doing business in New York – which carriers do all the time – to other U.S. East Coast ports, we are the most expensive,” said Joseph Curto, president of the New York Shipping Association.
Claudio Bozzo, president of Mediterranean Shipping Co. (USA), and Rick Larrabee, the port authority’s director of port commerce, sounded a similar theme.
Larrabee cited planned expansions at port terminals including Port Newark Container Terminal, where he said MSC has committed to increasing its cargo volume from the current 414,000 20-foot equivalent container units a year to 1.1 million TEUs by 2030.
Bozzo said MSC has added larger ships, increased its New York-New Jersey port calls from 230 to 330 a year, and boosted its cargo volume at the port by 40 percent in the last six years. But he warned that the port’s costs are among the highest and its productivity is
“one of the worst” of any U.S. port, and said this leaves an opening for competing ports.
“This is one of the areas that we collectively are going to have to continue focusing on,” Larrabee said. “Our competition is not asleep at the stick.”
Larrabee noted that the port authority has invested $2.1 billion in capital investments and terminal operators have invested $1 billion over the last decade, but said these investments won’t pay off without improved productivity.
“We need to keep finding ways to maximize the real estate we operate on, and one way to do that is to improve productivity,” Curto said. “Whether that be on the ships or the truck gates, improved productivity will allow more business to flow through the existing facilities.”
Productivity will be a top issue when waterfront employers and the International Longshoremen’s Association open negotiations within the next few months on a coastwide contract to replace the one that expires next Sept. 30. Newly elected ILA President Harold Daggett has vowed to resist further automation.
Curto said the New York-New Jersey port has unique work practices, many of which predate containerization, that unnecessarily raise costs and are no longer defensible. It’s a theme he has raised previously.