The GoJ seeks to establish a logistics hub that will consist of transhipment facilities, a logistics centre, industrial plants, a cement plant and possibly a power plant, said Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller in her Budget Debate presentation in the House of Representatives on Tuesday. The hub, which represents potentially $9 billion in foreign direct investment, has no final location designated, but the general area will be in close proximity to the existing Port.
The question is, could this be another “less than lucrative” project of the GoJ?
Lets zoom in on the Chart of the Week- Total Transshipment Cargo Handled at the Kingston Container Terminal and Kingston Wharves Limited.
Total volume of transshipment cargo declined considerably in 2012,there was a 36.5% decline in volume when compared to 2011’s transshipment cargo. The decline was as a result of reduced activities at both Kingston Container Terminal and Kingston Wharves Limited.
Transshipment is the act of shipping goods to an intermediate destination prior to reaching their ultimate end-use.
The numbers recorded at the Ports since the start of the year continue to paint a not so pretty picture for the 2013 performance of the Port of Kingston. For March, volume of transhipment cargo was 593,715 thousand tonnes, representing a 11% decline in volume below March 2012 and an even greater decline of 36% from the transshipped volume of cargo handled in March 2011. This continues the downward trend since the beginning of 2013.
So, are we putting all of our eggs in one basket?
