By John Powers, special to the AJOTEven before the advent of the container, poultry products ranked high on the roster of goods exiting Savannah. The port’s natural hinterland supports a thriving poultry industry spawned by favorable climate, land availability and access to feed sources. Additionally, area farmers have long been receptive to breeding programs installed and funded by major producers. More recently, the advent of the intermodal era has extended the logistics reach for frozen poultry moving in export via Savannah. The ability to blast freeze poultry and poultry parts and immediately transfer them into refrigerated containers enables poultry providers to effectively address the critical issue of temperature control throughout the supply chain cycle. As a result, Savannah’s hinterland for these commodities has been effectively extended to production areas in the Midwest, South and along the US East Coast. Leading origins are located across the US Southeast in the states of Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, South Carolina and Georgia. Asia and Russia are the major destinations for these exports. Among Asia’s largest consumers, China, Hong Kong, Korea and Taiwan’s domestic demand far exceeds their production capacity. The Port of Savannah’s extensive ocean carrier portfolio to and from that region makes it the preferred hub for exporters of poultry and other refrigerated cargoes. Pilgrim’s Pride is the world’s largest chicken producer, processing some four million tons of poultry per year. Duncan Gilchrist, international logistics manager for the firm explains that “Savannah is the company’s main port of loading and that the primary attraction is that it supports a large number of all-water services, both via the Panama and Suez Canals.” For frozen and chilled exports via Savannah, poultry and poultry products dominate the conversation in that they comprise 85% of total volumes. The remaining 15% is citrus and other food products. In 2007, these food products tallied over 34,500 containers of the port’s 1.44 million container throughput. Herman J. Brown Jr., who is responsible for GPA’s reefer trade development, provides further evidence of the upward trend for outbound reefer freight. “20,366 refrigerated containers were shipped through Savannah in the first six months of 2008 a 23% increase from the same time last year and 58% more than 2006. This surge is due to a combination of factors including the weakening of the US dollar and the declining rate of the bird flu scare which hindered our exports”, he explains. The lion’s share of Savannah’s reefer imports comprise seafood, primarily individually quick frozen (IQF) and processed seafood for grocery stores and fast food chain operators. The majority of these products flow from Vietnam and Thailand, with lesser quantities originating in China and scattered outside of Asia production centers. While outbound refrigerated exports from Savannah exceed inbound shipments by a ratio of approximately five to one, the import rate continues to accelerate, and has doubled since the end of 2005. Beaver Street Fisheries is one of the largest seafood importers in the southeastern US. Among many factors the company has chosen Savannah as its main import gateway due to the ports strength in Asian services. The recent softening of the dollar has had a marked impact on export volumes from the US. As a result, issues such as equipment availability, positioning and relocation expenses have had a dramatic impact on outbound tariffs. Refrigerated shipments have not escaped unscathed. Brown explains, “The increased demand has had a big impact on ocean carriers’ export freight rates for reefer containers. In 2006, the average 40 foot, port-to-port rate from Savannah to Hong Kong was in the range of $2,100-$2,500, compared with $3,500-$4,500 now. And, carriers are telling us that the rates may be increased by an additional $500 in late 2008.” However, Brown reports that soaring rates have done minimal to mitigate demand or slow the grow