Ocean shipping: Port of Boston has record year for container cargo

Jeff Berman, Senior Editor -- Logistics Management, 1/25/2008

BOSTON—2007 was a record year for container cargo shipments at the Port of Boston, the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) said this week.

Massport said that combined imports and exports at the port’s Conley Container Terminal grew by more than 10 percent over 2006’s performance at 220,341 TEU (Twenty-foot equivalents). And total tonnage for the year came in at 1,715,680 short tons.

It added that a primary reason for this growth is an increase in cargo activity with Asia, which has increased yearly since 2002. Massport Spokeswoman Lisa Langone told LM that Asia cargo growth at the Port of Boston has grown by the following amounts in that span: 2003 has a 73 percent increase over 2002; 2004 had a 57 percent increase over 2003; 2005 had a 36 percent increase over 2004; 2006 had a 13 percent increase over 2005; and 2007 had a 26 percent increase over 2006.

Another driver for 2007’s strong performance is due to the completion of the two year, $28-million Conley Terminal upgrade, which began in July 2005 and was completed last June. Massport said that this build-out added new equipment to the terminal and expanded its capacity by 50 percent, although its 100-acre footprint did not change. And the terminal’s improved efficiency, according to Massport, allows trucks coming in and out to deliver and receive containers faster. As an example of this, 2007 “turn-time” at the terminal’s gate improved to 39 minutes in 2007 compared to 56 minutes in 2005.

With the Conley Terminal completed, Langone said Massport is optimistic about future tonnage growth.

“We expect roughly a 5-to-7 percent growth in the next year with exports playing a key role in our business,” said Langone. “The value of the dollar overseas has made American products very desirable. [Shippers] are looking for more cost effective, reliable, and environmentally-friendly ways to move goods, therefore we are starting to see more freight moving by all-water.”

The main imports at the Port of Boston include: alcoholic beverages, frozen seafood, footwear, and furniture. Its main exports are: hides and skins, autos, logs and lumber, frozen seafood, recycled paper, and metal ware.

Langone also noted that the Port of Boston connects shippers to more than 100 ports worldwide and access to major interstate highways are a mile off the terminal.

“The Port of Boston is equally attractive to ocean carriers looking for strong markets,” said Langone. “Benefiting from almost 14 million consumers within easy reach, the New England region is one of the nation’s most affluent, with a high consumption of imported goods. Equally impressive is the Northeast’s strong export market. Shippers and carriers alike, benefit from trade made faster and more competitive via the Port of Boston.”