Port records largest net profit in its history
ALBANY -- Aided by sugar and cocoa imports, the Port of Albany last year recorded the largest net profit in its history.
The profit totaled $339,000, putting the port in the black for the first time since 1995, according to a financial audit conducted by the Albany accounting firm UHY LLP. In 2005, the port reported a net loss of $344,000.
The port also saw $4.6 million in revenue in 2006, again the largest in its history, and $800,000 more than it made in 2005.
"It was truly an exceptional year," William Kahn, an accountant with UHY, said Wednesday during a meeting of the Albany Port District Commission. "The revenues were very strong, expenses were contained, operating margins increased dramatically and debt went down."
The port makes money on docking fees, based on the size of a ship, and wharfage fees, based on the tonnage taken off the ship.
And novel goods came off ships last year: The port for the first time received sugar and saw cocoa for the first time in decades.
The port's profitability also was aided by the highly publicized arrival of wind turbine blades bound for energy-production projects in the Adirondacks, Canada and western New York.
Robert Cross, chairman of the port commission, said overall tonnage at the port jumped 23 percent, from 578,000 tons in 2005 to 780,500 tons last year. Meanwhile, hours worked by longshoremen jumped from 63,634 in 2005 to 81,000 in 2006.
Cross said there were times during the year when all of the port's warehouses were full. Lack of warehouse space even led the port to turn away a ship.
The port has 300,000 square feet of warehouse space. But officials are now accepting development proposals for 18 acres just south of the port administration building, and Cross said it's likely the selected proposal will include the construction of a warehouse.
"That's one option I'd like to see," he said. "I really don't like to be in a position where we have to turn business away."