Gulf Shipper Online: Feature of the Week -
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Published on: 2/6/2006
Last Visited: 3/19/2006
"(Port) costs definitely went up due to lost capacity," said Robert Nathan, ONA Foods vice president."Rates are not as competitive."Nathan estimates stevedore and port rates have increased 15 percent at Pascagoula, Pensacola and Mobile since Katrina, prompted by the cost of importing labor at some ports, providing living quarters, bringing in equipment, and so forth."Buyers (such as ONA) are bearing the cost," he said.
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Blast freezers at dockside cold storage facilities save poultry exporters money because it gives them a competitive edge, Nathan said.New Orleans started the high-capacity blast program a few years back, raising the bar for the other freezers along the Gulf, he said.When blast freezing isn't available dockside, producers must freeze the cargo inland somewhere between the poultry plant and the dock.It is an extra stop that most exporters would prefer to avoid.Dockside blast-freezing is substantially cheaper by 2 cents to 3 cents per pound, Nathan said.
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ONA Foods' Robert Nathan said fear of avian influenza, known as "AI," caused the leg quarter market to crash in November, falling from (a wholesale price of) 45 cents per pound to 25 cents per pound. "Russian consumers stopped buying chicken when AI came to Russia a few months ago," he said.
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