Alabama State Port Authority Names John C. Driscoll as Director and CEO

May 18, 2020 - The Alabama State Port Authority recently named John C. Driscoll as Director and Chief Executive Officer for the Port Authority, effective June 1, 2020.

“Over the last several months, the Board and Jimmy Lyons worked through a nationwide search to identify a slate of qualified candidates,” said Bestor Ward, Chairman of the Alabama State Port Authority. “It was John’s qualifications that made him the natural choice. Our board looks forward to John joining the Port Authority team in June.”

Driscoll most recently served as Maritime Director at the Port of Oakland in Oakland, California. He had operational and marketing responsibility for one of the nation’s top 10 container seaports. Driscoll was credited with improving that port’s operating efficiency, financial performance and community relations.

Prior to working in Oakland, Driscoll served as vice president of export sales for CMA CGM (America) LLC.

Driscoll gained deep international maritime experience and contacts working with Sea-Land Service, Maersk Line and CMA CGM. He successfully developed business operations in the Caribbean, Central America, and South America.

“This is a gratifying opportunity and a career highlight," said Driscoll. "I've seen the caliber of people who work here and the contributions the Port of Mobile makes to Alabama, the local community, and global trade. There is so much to be proud of at Mobile. The responsibility in leading this port is fantastic, and we will work together to continue the progress made under Executive Director Lyons.”

The Port Authority’s current Director and CEO, James Lyons, noted, “I’ve observed over the years John’s incredible contributions to the industry. His abilities were affirmed through our extensive assessment of his body of work and my conversations with those who have worked with him. I am confident John will be an excellent fit for our seaport, our management team, and our employees, and I personally look forward to the transition.”

Lyons will assist Driscoll in the transition and serve as director emeritus until his retirement at the end of the year.

The Alabama State Port Authority owns and operates the State of Alabama’s deep-water port facilities at the Port of Mobile, currently the 11th largest U.S. Seaport by total trade. The Port Authority’s facilities alone handled over 26 million tons of cargo in 2019.

SOURCE: Alabama State Port Authority

Port of Savannah Handled Six Percent More Containers of Forest Products in First Two Months of 2020

May 20, 2020 (Press Release) - While many cargo categories have seen struggles related to COVID-19, strong demand for forest products at the start of 2020 has meant increased trade in these commodities. The Port of Savannah handled 78,486 twenty-foot equivalent container units of forest products, an increase of 6 percent or 4,470 TEU, in the first two months of the year (the latest period for which containerized commodity data is available).

Wood pulp, paper and paperboard drove most of the growth, with wood pulp volumes increasing by 25.3 percent (7,225 TEUs) during January and February compared to 2019, for a total of 35,751 TEUs. Similarly, paper and paperboard grew from 26,107 to 31,777 TEUs during the first two months of the year, an increase of 21.7 percent, or 5,670 TEUs.

“The paperboard and containerboard are used for packaging of products you see on your store shelves and for making much needed boxes that are in high demand due to the growth of e-commerce, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Plastic Express President and CEO Ray Hufnagel. The company, best known for packaging and transporting resins and other plastic goods, moves other commodities through its subsidiary, PX Services, to global destinations via the Port of Savannah. “The wood pulp we receive is a high purity cellulose specialty product that is used in pharmaceuticals, among many other products.”

March numbers for GPA commodities are not yet available. Anecdotally, however, port customers have noted continued strong demand for commodities such as paper and paperboard.

“Domestic paper sales are up due to the COVID 19 rush,” said David Porter, regional sales manager at GPA. “Georgia Pacific is looking to be up 15 percent for the fiscal year and Graphic Packaging up 10.5 percent. Driving this growth is the demand for more food-grade boxes. As more people stay home, the demand for these types of products has increased.”

The outlook for the export of logs is also looking positive as trade deals have reopened the market into China.

“Demand is skyrocketing, and many of the log providers are scrambling to meet demand,” Porter said. “We have multiple companies looking at the Appalachian Regional Port and another working with GLOVIS in West Georgia to match-back empty containers from KIA. Some log exporters are seeing growth of 200 percent to 300 percent.”

Savannah’s forest products volumes may also be positively impacted by the entry of Plastic Express into the local market handling these commodities. The company’s recently opened Building 1 is now receiving railcars of paper and wood pulp. Container stuffing operations for forest products began in February.

“Since those initial carloads, we have seen growth through our facility and in just a few months are up to around 700 twenty-foot equivalent container units with a lot more growth in the pipeline,” Hufnagel said. “The challenges with COVID-19 have impacted businesses and consumers alike, however the need for paper to be used for packaging products and wood pulp for pharmaceuticals, toiletries, and diapers are still very much in demand.”

Plastic Express began its initial operations in Savannah with 1.1 million square feet of space and 265 rail car spots, with nearly half of that available to non-resin commodities.  The company has now started construction on Building 2 in Savannah, adding another 1.2 million square feet of space and 235 rail car spots, again with roughly half of the new capacity available to forest products.

Georgia mills provide the largest share of paper products arriving at the Savannah warehouse, with the remainder coming from Florida and South Carolina. The company is also competing for forest products business out of Alabama, Arkansas and North Carolina.

Hufnagel said access to Class I railroads CSX and Norfolk Southern via shortline carrier Georgia Central extends the company’s reach to customers across the U.S. Southeast. Key destinations for the paper and pulp shipments include South America, Asia, India and North Africa.

“Good news for the forestry industry not only benefits the Georgia Ports Authority, but the state economy as a whole,” said GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch. “The industry spans the state of Georgia, from landowners and pulpwood growers, to major mills and the thousands of people they employ.”

SOURCE: Georgia Ports

British Ports Welcome Extended Furloughing Scheme as UK Economy Reawakens

May 13, 2020 - The British Ports Association (BPA) has welcomed the announcement by the Chancellor on May 12 that the government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will be extended for an additional four months in the UK, until the end of October. This will help ports recover as the UK economy starts to reawaken.

The UK’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme was launched in March. It allows employers to stand down workers but then claim a cash grant of up to 80% of their wages, capped at £2,500 a month. The money is claimed by the company and distributed to staff, so individuals don’t have to do anything themselves. Some employers decide to make up the 20% difference, some do not.

Sara Walsh, Corporate Services Manager at the British Ports Association, who has been leading on much of the COVID-19 response for the sector, including developing the BPA’s industry-wide ‘Ports Coronavirus Information Hub’ said, “The announcement regarding furloughing is good news for UK ports. This has been by far the most useful Coronavirus support mechanism for ports, and unlike other measures such as those for commercial tenants which has left many ports out of pocket, it has not led to knock-on effects elsewhere.

“The ports industry is cooperating closely with the Department for Transport and other government agencies and the availability of PPE is becoming an issue. PPE supplies such as sanitiser and masks are beginning to run low in some ports.

“To date, the Government has advised that masks and gloves are not required outside the clinical environment although some employers have been allocating equipment to staff as a resilience measure. Masks can also be a normal requirement for some roles, for example to protect from breathing in dust particulate.

“As the general public are now encouraged to wear face coverings when on public transport and in some shops this could cause strain on mask supplies, which are already stretched. We recently surveyed our port members and 44% reported issues sourcing PPE. Some ports have also reported substantial price increases which could indicate profiteering in supply chains which alongside supply issues will cause significant problems for the sector. This is wrong and should be stamped out.”

Alongside the guidance for businesses, the Department for Transport has also issued guidance for transport operators in England. It includes some useful information for ports about queuing, crowd management, cleaning, ventilation, communication and training.

Walsh added, “While some of the government’s new suite of guidance documents for businesses and transport operators are broadly speaking relevant to the ports and wider maritime sector, they are quite general in nature and are designed to be applicable for all types of organisations.”

SOURCE: British Ports Association

Port Canaveral Receives Shipment of 2,000 Metric Tons of Pulp from Sweden

May 6, 2020 - Space Coast Daily (Brevard County, Florida) reported that the Flora Schulte arrived in Port Canaveral, Florida on May 1 with 2,000 metric tons of wood pulp (used for paper production) along with 5,700 metric tons of lumber.

The Flora Schulte, a relatively new bulk carrier (May 2019) owned by Schulte Group, was originally scheduled to Port Canaveral about a month ago but was delayed loading the product in Sweden because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a video by Space Coast Daily, Trey Finch, Operations Manager with Norton Lilly International said Port Canaveral rarely gets this type of shipment but it is probably due to the need for increased production of paper products.

“There are 1,000 units (pulp bales) onboard and each unit weights two metric tons apiece,” Finch explained.

Finch noted that the Flora Schulte first arrived in Philadelphia to unload a portion of its cargo before heading to Port Canaveral.

The market pulp, produced by Sodra (Sweden), will be delivered to an undisclosed local paper manufacturer, Space Coast Daily said.