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84 THE JOURNAL OF COMMERCE www.joc.com MAY 26.2014 TOP 100 IMPORTERS AND EXPORTERS By Joseph Bonney CHIQUITA BRANDS INTERNATIONAL will shift its Gulfport, Mississippi, calls, and an esti- mated 60,000 to 78,000 20-foot-equivalent units annually, to New Orleans next year. The transfer, aided by fi nancial incen- tives from the state of Louisiana and the Port of New Orleans, is a blow to Gulfport, which is engaged in a major post-Hurricane Katrina expansion that includes acquiring three post-Panamax container cranes (even though the port lacks the channel depth to accommodate Panamax vessels). Chiquita and Louisiana offi cials said the company's Central American cargo volumes through New Orleans would be divided approximately evenly between bananas and other imported fruit, and miscellaneous backhaul cargo. New Orleans officials said the additional cargo would boost the port's overall con- tainer volume by about 15 percent. Chiquita is expected to begin New Orleans port calls in the fi rst quarter of 2015. Chiquita's predecessor companies, United Fruit and United Brands, called at New Orleans for 70 years until the 1970s when, weary of labor unrest at their break- bulk operations in New Orleans, they accepted Mississippi state incentives to move to Gulfport. The state of Louisiana will pay Chiquita a performance-based incentive of $18.55 per TEU, totaling $1.1 million to $1.45 million a year, and will invest $2.2 million in a port- owned distribution/ripening facility to be leased to Chiquita. The Port of New Orleans will invest $2 million in refrigerated- container electrical infrastructure and rehabilitation of a container freight warehouse to accommodate the project. Gulfport handled 164,000 TEUs of last year, according to PIERS, the data division of JOC Group. The state-owned port last fall agreed to pay $8 million of the $11 mil- lion cost of maintenance dredging to restore its 16-mile ship channel, which has silted to 32 feet, to its authorized 36-foot depth. Port CEO Jonathan Daniels said the port hopes work will begin this summer. Daniels said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers next year is expected to complete its study of the environmental impact of dredging to between 36 and 47 feet, but the deeper channel still would need congressio- nal authorization and funding. Chiquita and European fruit marketer Fyffes in March agreed to merge. U.S. and Irish authorities still must approve the deal, but the two companies have made clear in fi lings at the Securities and Exchange Com- mission that the merger is as much about logistics as it is about marketing bananas. ChiquitaFyffes intends to save up to $40 bil- lion annually by streamlining and combining port operations and vessel purchases and leases. The multiyear lease in New Orleans was undoubtedly made with an eye toward the combined company. Chiquita currently has a vessel-sharing agreement with Mediter- ranean Shipping Co. that covers distribution from Central and South America to the Atlan- tic and Gulf regions. It has a similar agreement with Hamburg Sud on the West Coast, with calls at the Port of Hueneme, California. Fyffes subsidiary Turbana operates its own shipping company, which currently calls at the Port of Freeport, Texas. JOC Cool Cargoes editor Stephanie Nall contributed to this report. Contact Joseph Bonney at jbonney@joc.com and follow him on Twitter: @josephbonney. Let's Make a Peel New Orleans dangles incentives to lure Chiquita's Central American services away from Gulfport TOP 100 IMPORTERS AND EXPORTERS New Orleans officials said the additional cargo would boost the port's overall con- tainer volume by about 15 percent. Chiquita is expected to begin New Orleans port calls in the fi rst quarter of 2015. year, and will invest $2.2 million in a port- owned distribution/ripening facility to be leased to Chiquita. The Port of New Orleans will invest $2 million in refrigerated- container electrical infrastructure and rehabilitation of a container freight warehouse to accommodate the project. Gulfport handled 164,000 TEUs of last year, according to PIERS, the data division of JOC Group. The state-owned port last fall agreed to pay $8 million of the $11 mil- lion cost of maintenance dredging to restore its 16-mile ship channel, which has silted to 32 feet, to its authorized 36-foot depth. Port CEO Jonathan Daniels said the port hopes work will begin this summer. Daniels said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers next year is expected to complete its study of the environmental impact of dredging to between 36 and 47 feet, but the deeper channel still would need congressio- nal authorization and funding. Let's Make New Orleans dangles incentives