Young Brothers Ltd.’s interisland cargo volume was flat in the third quarter as shipments remained in a tight range for the fifth straight year.
The state’s largest interisland cargo carrier said in a report due out today that volume edged up 0.3 percent from the year-earlier period and is up just 0.7 percent for the first nine months of 2017.
Cargo volume has been up marginally in recent years, with gains of 1.5, 0.5, 1.1 and 0.1 percent from 2013-16.
“Significant drivers for statewide cargo volumes were on the Big Island,” said Keith Kiyotoki, Young Brothers’ account manager for marketing, sales and customer service. “Kawaihae went from positive in the second quarter to negative in the third which is associated with a decline in all categories of outbound cargo from Kawaihae. Hilo had a significant increase in volume that was largely driven by automobiles and roll-on, roll-off equipment in and out of Hilo.”
CARGO AT PORTS
Young Brothers Ltd.’s shipping volume between Honolulu and neighbor island ports rose 0.3 percent in the third quarter from the year-earlier period (measured in container/platform equivalents).
Ports | 2017 | 2016 | Change
Kahului | 11,615 | 11,560 | 0.5%
Hilo | 9,242 | 8,520 | 8.5%
Kawaihae | 5,255 | 5,517 | -4.7%
Nawiliwili | 6,381 | 6,581 | -3.0%
Molokai | 1,513 | 1,454 | 4.1%
Lanai | 1,028 | 1,094 | -6.0%
Total: 32,724 | 32,639 | 0.3%
* Total does not include multiple shipments between islands.
Source: Young Brothers Ltd.
Three neighbor island ports posted gains in cargo volume last quarter as Hilo rose 8.5 percent, Kaunakakai on Molokai increased 4.1 percent and Kahului edged up 0.5 percent.
The other three ports saw declines in volume as Kaumalapau on Lanai fell 6 percent, Kawaihae declined 4.7 percent and Nawiliwili on Kauai fell 3 percent.
Young Brothers, which is regulated by the state, tracks cargo volumes using a standard unit measurement called container/ platform equivalents, or CPEs. For the third quarter the company’s interisland cargo volume of both inbound and outbound shipments totaled 32,724 CPEs compared with 32,639 CPEs in the year-earlier quarter.
The agricultural sector, which has been affected by the closure of the Maui Farmers Co-Ops and the shutdown of Maui’s last sugar refinery, continued to slump with volume down 7.7 percent last quarter from the year-earlier period. Agricultural shipments from Kahului alone plunged 65.1 percent from the third quarter of 2016. That comes on the heels of a 39.8 percent drop in outbound shipments from Kahului in the second quarter.
There also was a 5.3 percent drop in Honolulu shipments.
However, agricultural shipments were up 12.3 percent from Hilo, 8.4 percent from Molokai, 5.1 percent from Kauai and 4.8 percent from Kawaihae.
In October, Young Brothers announced that its president, Glenn Hong, would be leaving the company to join parent company Saltchuk on Monday. Hong has been with Young Brothers since 1991 when he was vice president of finance and government affairs before being named president the following year.
Seattle-based Saltchuk acquired Young Brothers and Hawaiian Tug & Barge from Hawaiian Electric Industries in 1999.
