Port of Halifax Hoping Fix is Quick

(Tom Peters — Chronicle Herald)

Authority says it has work to do before even thinking about long-term gain

The Halifax Port Authority is concentrating on getting over the short-term pain before it turns its attention to long-term gain, says authority president and CEO Karen Oldfield.

“We are so focused on getting our volumes up, increasing our business through the port, we are not even looking at 2009,” she said Thursday after the authority’s annual meeting.

The port, like several others across North America, will show a continued decrease in container cargo when six-month figures are released in July. Ms. Oldfield would not say how big a decline she expects, but James Foote, CN’s executive vice-president of sales and marketing, estimated its volumes through the port are down about 15 per cent.

“We are looking very, very short term. Long-term prospects are excellent. Short term, we are in choppy water and we are working really hard at every aspect of the business — the reefers (refrigerated cargo), retail, every little place that we can find commodities that go into boxes that go across our port. That’s where we are,” Ms. Oldfield said.

Paul DuVoisin, the port’s commercial director based in the New York / New Jersey area, told the annual meeting that international shipping lines expect to see a turnaround in 2009. Imports into North America, particularly into the U.S., have dropped significantly this past year, a decrease attributed to factors such as the mortgage crisis. Household furnishings account for a large percentage of imports.

Ms. Oldfield said it is difficult to predict when Halifax will begin to see a cargo upsurge but she is optimistic about short-term prospects. Read the complete article.