Savannah and Norfolk Form Tag Team to Take on Charleston and Philadelphia

February 27, 2017

The Georgia Ports Authority and the Port of Virginia have filed a cooperation agreement with the Federal Maritime Commission. While a long way from a formal merger, this will allow closer operations from a strategic perspective. Structurally the east coast has been gaining market share over the west coast as a result of the Panama Canal extension, as discussed in Panjiva research of February 13.

PANAMA PROVES TO BE SAVANNAH’S PAL

Data based on 3-month aggregate shipments from China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia to selected U.S. ports. Regions are California, West Coast ex California, South-East and North-East Source: Panjiva

The move may allow both to gain an edge over fast-growing local competition. In the case of Savannah this is Charleston, which had its month ever in January when combining export and import traffic, though Savannah was no slouch and expanded 16%. For Norfolk VA the main threat is Philadelphia. While Philadelphia was only 29.6% the size of Norfolk, Panjiva data for import volumes over the past 12 months shows, it has nearly doubled on a year earlier. That has been driven by new routes, according to local press reports.

SAVANNAH LEADS THE WAY, PHILADELPHIA ON THE HUNT