Maui Ag Shipments Down 65% in Third Quarter

Young Brothers barge, file photo by Wendy Osher.

Young Brothers, Limited announced that intrastate cargo volumes between Honolulu and six neighbor island ports increased 0.3% in the third quarter of 2017, compared to the same time last year. For the first nine months of 2017, cargo volumes grew only 0.7%.

“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.”

For the third quarter of 2017, three neighbor island ports experienced gains in cargo volume: Kahului, up 0.5%; Hilo, up 8.5%; Kaunakakai; up 4.1%. The remaining three ports experienced declines in cargo volume: Kawaihae down -4.7%; Nāwiliwili down 3%; and Lāna‘i down 6%.

Agricultural Cargo Volume Continues to Stay Down in the Third Quarter

Agricultural sector volumes were down at 7.7%, continuing to be driven by the closure of the Maui Farmers Co-Ops.

Agricultural shipments from Kahului alone were down 65.1% for the third quarter (compared to the same quarter last year). Young Brothers says this follows a 39.8% in agriculture shipments from Kahului in the second quarter, driven largely by the closure of Maui’s last sugar refinery.

Agricultural shipments from Honolulu were down 5.3%. In contrast, Hilo was up 12.3%; Kawaihae up 4.8%; Nāwiliwili up 5.1%; and Kaunakakai up 8.4%.

Agricultural volume includes only cargo that qualifies for the company’s island agricultural product discount of 30 to 35%, which applies to locally grown agricultural products.