LIHUE — Young Brothers, Limited announced that intrastate cargo volumes between Honolulu and six Neighbor Island ports increased slightly in the second quarter of 2017, up 1.2 percent compared to the same period of 2016. For the first six months
LIHUE — Young Brothers, Limited announced that intrastate cargo volumes between Honolulu and six Neighbor Island ports increased slightly in the second quarter of 2017, up 1.2 percent compared to the same period of 2016.
For the first six months of 2017, cargo volumes grew only 0.7 percent.
“The two Hawaii Island ports of Hilo and Kawaihae drove the modest cargo volume increase for the second quarter,” said Roy Catalani, vice president of Young Brothers. “This positive outcome can be largely attributed to construction equipment and construction materials for the Big Island’s highway projects, as well as an increase in new and used automobile volumes.”
Agricultural shipments from Honolulu fell significantly, down 10.4 percent. In contrast, Hilo was up 2.0 percent, Kawaihae up 14.4 percent, Nawiliwili up 15.5 percent and Kaunakakai up 1.8 percent.
For the second quarter of 2017, three Neighbor Island ports experienced gains in cargo volume: Hilo, up 8.4 percent; Kawaihae, up 3.3 percent; Kaunakakai, up 9.7 percent.
The remaining three ports experienced declines in cargo volume, with Kahului down 4.0 percent, Nawiliwili down 0.8 percent and Kaumalapau down 2.5 percent.
Agricultural sector volumes were down 5.3 percent, primarily driven by the closure of the Maui Farmers Co-Op, which previously utilized all three weekly Young Brothers sailings from Kahului to Honolulu to ship cabbage and Maui Kula sweet onions.
