Categorized | Business

Young Brothers: Neighbor island cargo volumes rise 4.4%

MEDIA RELEASE

Young Brothers, Limited has announced intrastate cargo shipments between Honolulu and six neighbor island ports rebounded in the second quarter of 2013 after falling in the first quarter, according to the Young Brothers Quarterly Shipping Report.

For the April to June 2013 period, intrastate volume overall rose 4.4 percent compared to the same quarter of 2012.

“Cargo volumes turned around in the second quarter,” said Glenn Hong, president of Young Brothers. “We are optimistic for continuing signs of strength from important sectors of the economy, such as the construction industry.”

The 4.4-percent jump in volume provides a marked recovery from the first quarter of the year, when cargo volumes were down 3.9 percent, according to the Young Brothers’ Quarterly Report – a key barometer of neighbor island economic activity.

During the second quarter of 2013, all but one of the neighbor island ports increased cargo shipments: Kahului, Maui, the largest single port in terms of volume, climbed 3.6 percent; Hilo rose 6.7 percent; Nawiliwili, Kauai, up 7.9 percent; Kaunakakai, Molokai, up 10.5 percent; and Kaumalapau, Lanai, up 12.2 percent.

The lone decline was at the Big Island port of Kawaihae, which experienced a 1.9-percent drop in volume.

Construction materials and equipment, food and beverage, and recyclables were among the positive drivers during the second quarter, according to Young Brothers.

“Nearly half of the second quarter volume growth was driven by higher automobile and other vehicle shipments. Rental-fleet and auto-dealership volumes were particularly strong,” Hong said. “In addition, agricultural cargo and renewable energy cargo, namely bio-diesel fuel, are growing segments. Conversely, U.S. postal shipments continued its downward trend.”

The company said overall volume for the first six months was basically flat from a year ago, increasing just 0.1 percent compared to the first six months of 2012.

“The upturn in second-quarter volume helped return our year-to-date volume back to 2012 levels,” Hong said.

Four neighbor island ports experienced an increase in volume for the first half of the year, while volume at two ports declined. Lanai rose 19.8 percent; Kaunakakai, up 6.1 percent; Nawiliwili, up 5.4 percent; and Hilo inched up 0.5 percent. In contrast, volume dropped 8.2 percent at Kawaihae and 1.1 percent at Kahului.

In the second quarter, agricultural cargo volume statewide increased by 11.1 percent over the year-ago quarter, returning to a trend of double-digit increases in quarterly comparisons after seeing only a slight move upward of 1.2 percent in the first quarter of 2013. For the first six months of the year, agricultural volume is up 6.1 percent.

Five ports experienced an increase in agricultural cargo exports during the second quarter 2013: Kahului, up 28.3 percent; Honolulu, 14.7 percent; Kaunakakai, 11.9 percent; Hilo, 5.8 percent; and Kawaihae, 5.7 percent. Agricultural cargo from Nawiliwili dropped 5.3 percent compared to the year-ago quarter.

Similarly, four ports increased agricultural exports for the first six months: Kahului, up 25.0 percent; Kaunakakai, up 12.6 percent; Honolulu, 10.7 percent; and Hilo, 6.1 percent. However, agricultural cargo from Nawiliwili and Kawaihae declined compared to the same period a year ago, down 27.3 percent and 15.6 percent, respectively.

Agricultural volume includes only cargo that qualifies for the company’s island product discount of 30 to 35 percent, which applies to locally grown agricultural products.

Young Brothers’ quarterly intrastate shipping volumes reflect only cargo shipments that originate and terminate within Hawaii.

Young Brothers, Limited, with approximately 340 employees across the state, has served Hawaii since 1900. Young Brothers is a publicly regulated water carrier providing 12 weekly port calls from Honolulu to the state’s neighbor island ports, including Hilo, Kawaihae, Kahului, Kaumalapau, Kaunakakai and Nawiliwili.

— Find out more:
www.youngbrothershawaii.com

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

 

Quantcast