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Mobile Port Traffic Down in September

Posted on: Tuesday, 25 October 2005, 12:00 CDT

By John Davis, Montgomery Advertiser, Ala.

Oct. 25--Traffic through the Alabama State Port Authority was down hundreds of millions of dollars in September compared with a year ago, though overall the international port at Mobile is seeing gains over last year.

According to Ron Sparks, Alabama's commissioner of agriculture and industries, the dip in trade traffic is not surprising.

Sparks said there's a "strong possibility" that U.S. Census Bureau preliminary data for September trade traffic in the Gulf of Mexico could be revised up in the coming weeks.

"We're just now getting to the end of the harvest season," Sparks said, noting that shipments from Alabama farms could boost exports in the coming months.

According to the bureau's latest figures, exports out of Mobile were down $142 million in September compared with the same month a year ago. Imports were down $364 million for the month.

On Sept. 9, the port authority reported it was recovering from Hurricane Katrina and working through problems such as sketchy phone service and a flooded truck control office.

Paper products, the most-shipped item out of Mobile, were down $15.5 million in September for a total of $27 million.

Connecticut-based International Paper Co., which uses the port authority, is getting its shipments back on track.

"We are a pretty big shipper," said Amy Sawyer, a company spokeswoman. "We really haven't changed our (shipping) pattern."

Sawyer noted that beyond short disruptions in shipping, a shortage of trucks in the Gulf region also contributed to the slowdown in port traffic.

The company has paper mills in Prattville and Selma, giving jobs to about 1,450 people.

Between January and August, $3.5 billion in goods left Mobile, $510 million more than the same period in 2004.

Imports also are ahead of last year, with a total of $8.6 billion as of August -- up $1.2 billion over last year.

This year, the Alabama Legislature approved $80 million to help fund an estimated $300 million container and intermodal terminal for the state docks, which are supposed to be completed by mid-2007.

According to the August issue of Alabama Seaport, last budget year, the Port Authority Board approved $111 million in construction and upgrades.

Staff writer Marty Roney contributed to this report.

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Copyright (c) 2005, Montgomery Advertiser, Ala.

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IP,

Source: Montgomery Advertiser

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