PhilaPort welcomed the arrival of the vessel Wan Hai 315 to the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal this week.
The weekly Asia – America 9 (AA9) Service makes calls to Haiphong, Vietnam; Shekou (Shenzhen), Shanghai, and Qingdao, China; Kaohsiung, Taiwan; and Balboa, Panama on its way to Philadelphia.
“The arrival of Wan Hai Lines’ AA9 Service gives shippers a better alternative for trading with Asia. More broadly, it will help alleviate US East Coast port congestion,” said Jeff Theobald, Executive Director and CEO of PhilaPort, the authority that manages the Commonwealth’s marine terminals along the Delaware River.
China is Pennsylvania’s biggest overseas export market, surpassing Germany and the United Kingdom.
2021 saw a record value of PA exports to China of $3.4 billion. This surpassed 2020’s total of $2.9 billion and 2019’s total of $2.6 billion.
In 2020, Pennsylvania exported $335 million in goods to Taiwan. The two-way trade is over $1 billion.
READ: Container volumes surge at PhilaPort in 2021
As US manufacturers diversify their sourcing and look for other growing Asian markets, Vietnam tops the list of targets.
Vietnam is one of the fastest growing economies in the world: Pennsylvania exports to Vietnam have risen significantly, from $85 million in 2019 to $109 million in 2020, and up to $113 million in 2021.
On 4 February, the port was granted $246 million in commercial capacity.
The money will improve the terminal platform – reinforced paving, drainage, electricity, lighting – to fully utilise Electric Rubber Tyred Gantry Cranes (ERTGs) and other new container moving equipment being purchased by Holt Logistics.
