These days, when Georgia Ports Authority Executive Director Curtis Foltz takes to the stage, it’s a pretty safe bet that he’s there to talk about the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project, a plan to deepen the shipping channel at Garden City and Ocean terminals from 42 to 47 feet.
After all, the $630 million, 15-year effort — one of the most-studied civil works projects in the country — is finally mere months from actual digging.
So it was to the surprise of most attending the final day of the 2014 Georgia Foreign Trade Conference Tuesday on Sea Island that Foltz eschewed his favorite subject to offer his insights on the changing dynamics of the ports industry.
“All of us here have a vested interest in this industry,” he said. “We have a responsibility to take a leadership role, to make sure this country is well-positioned to compete long term. And to do that, we have to understand what’s changing.”
One thing that seems to be changing for the better, Foltz said, is the global economic outlook.
“This will be the first year, I think, that most of us can feel comfortable. The U.S. economic growth will be fairly robust, Europe is out of its collapse, Japan is continuing to improve after more than a decade of stagnation and China — while it may not grow at 12-14 percent — should grow 8 percent,” he said.
“So, we should feel pretty good about what’s happening.”
Foltz outlined the major issues he expects the industry to face in the next year and beyond. Among them:
• “On the container side, industry consolidation has become a reality, with carriers forming alliances to stay competitive. The container business still hasn’t returned to good health, so it has to change. On the East and Gulf coasts, the larger 8,000- to 9,000-TEU ship will become the workhorse, providing economies of scale.”
• “Landside scale is becoming very important. Bigger ships need more terminal capacity, more road and rail capacity and the equipment to work these ships. Deeper harbors, higher bridges — all these things will make a difference. We think it puts the Garden City Terminal in a very advantageous position.”
• “We feel the impact of the Panama Canal Expansion on East Coast trade will be gradual, driven in part by shippers’ distribution centers. We think that, even after expansion, the Panama Canal will face competition from the Suez. But they will be sure to remain competitive.
• “That said, East Coast trade via the Suez will continue to grow. We in Savannah are proud to be the only port on the East Coast called on by all 11 U.S. East Coast-Suez services.
• “The U.S. Southeast will continue to be the region to watch in terms of growth. Over the next 50 years, there will be 56 million additional people coming into the region. That’s why the Southeast ports system must continue to grow, not as individuals, but as a region. We need capacity in Charleston, in Savannah, in Jacksonville.
• “With global recovery, industrialized and emerging markets will continue to have an increasing demand for frozen and chilled cargo, great opportunities for ports in the Southeast.”
But the outlook for ports across the nation isn’t all rosy, Foltz said.
“Across the U.S., we are facing serious infrastructure challenges. In this country, we’re dealing with aging infrastructure, lack of capacity growth and no national strategy for improvement, while our foreign competitors are modernizing at warp speed,” he said.
“This needs to become a national priority in our country.
“Today it’s not.”