By John Powers

Not a sport, but the use of containers to ship agriproducts which have traditionally moved in bulk or breakbulk formats.

Multiple factors are driving a current surge in the use of containers for such shipments:

• The ability to segregate in smaller increments based upon quality and other characteristics;
• Smaller quantities make sense for certain buyers as opposed to shiploads, especially in more remote markets;
• Simplified transportation and ease of handling;
• Trade imbalances lead to high equipment availability and depressed rates;
• The emergence of new specialty commodities.

“Containers are used in the ag business every day for commodities like barley malt, grits and certain fertilizers,” notes Charles Regini, Georgia Ports Authority Agri-bulk Accounts Executive. Other commodities include soybean meal, corn gluten, corn wheat and cottonseed are on the roster. Regini adds, “More recently, the surge in production of ethanol and bio-fuels is generating high-volume shipments of distiller’s grain, a co-product of the refining process.”

Export volumes of distiller’s grain are expected to approach 2 million tons in 2010, with double digit increases on the horizon. Three additional plants are under construction in the Mid-west alone with 31 in operation in the U.S. Mid-west, all strategically proximate to Savannah. Only 25% of this volume can be consumed domestically, so the majority will be exported. End uses include animal feed, where it replaces traditional ingredients costing three times as much, with no loss in nutrition value. 

Recognizing these emerging trends, a number of transfer operations have set up shop in Savannah for purposes of receiving agri-products in bulk and transloading them into containers. SMT Logistics, JIMCO Group, Metro Ports and Global Commodities have well-established operations. They are being joined by SMT Logistics new facility on the CSX.

Savannah is enjoying considerable success in attracting shipments from more traditional routings via the Gulf and West Coast. “The development of our distribution center complex generates huge equipment availability. Carriers avoid empty container backhauls by negotiating favorable pricing for export agriproducts,” states Regini.

Other factors aligning in Savannah’s favor:

• A diverse carrier roster covering key agriproducts markets;
• Last-out service on many vessel rotations, providing best transit times;
• Superior rail connections to growing regions in the southern rim, Midwest and Ohio Valley;
• The presence of multiple, high-productivity transloaders.
• Multiple transfer operations in close proximity to Garden City Terminal.

The container vs. bulk/breakbulk decision will always be made on a case-by-case basis. Mitigating factors will include harvest yields, volumes available for export, container availability, the prevailing trade balance and, of course, product and transportation pricing for target markets. Bill Barrs, GPA Cargo Sales Representative believes, “There will certainly be some back and forth movements for certain commodities between containers and other modes. However, dried distiller’s grain will always lend itself to containerization.”

Regini predicts that increasing ethanol production will continuously generate volumes that will far exceed domestic demand for distiller’s grain. He concludes, “We also project bustling trade among specialty agriproducts. Furthermore, we believe containers will be used to supplement larger bulk shipments, allowing producers to fulfill orders more strategically.”