Port of Virginia Sees Red

As forecast, the Port of Virginia in January posted an operating loss, the first one following six consecutive months of positive operating revenue reports.

The operating result at the US East Coast port for January is a loss of USD 1 million, which is an improvement over the prior-year result of a USD 4.7 million operating loss, and the lowest January operating loss in four years.

The fiscal-year-to-date result is an operating profit of USD 5.2 million, versus a prior year operating loss of USD 15.3 million, or an improvement of USD 20.5 million year-over-year.

”We forecast for a loss in January and February and by no means do we believe this is acceptable,” said John F. Reinhart, CEO and executive director of the Virginia Port Authority. ”We expected headwinds in the third quarter as a result of seasonal impacts.”

Reinhart said February may hold a loss as well, given that it is a short month, there have been one-and-a-half lost workdays as a result of snow and the negative effect of the exceptionally cold weather on operations.

In January, The Port of Virginia reported that it handled 191,996 TEUs, an increase of 14.8 percent, or 24,725 TEUs, when compared with January 2014.