WASHINGTON: Two years after a celebrated return to New Orleans after a 40-year absence, fruit importer Chiquita may be leaving again — or maybe not, port officials say. The New Orleans Advocate quoted port Chief Executive Officer Gary LaGrange on Thursday night as saying he was looking into reports that Chiquita might exit the port. He said he was taking the reports seriously and had tried unsuccessfully to get answers from company officials.
Port spokesperson Matt Gresham said the port’s board was “aware of Chiquita’s potential interest in pursuing other strategic shipping options” but had received no official notice. He added, “The board values its relationship with Chiquita and will work with terminal operators, the state of Louisiana and shipping partners to continue the relationship.”
In a followup statement to JOC.com on Friday, Gresham said, “The board has yet to be officially notified of any change and we have no further comment at this time.” Losing Chiquita’s business would be a blow to New Orleans. Since returning to the port in late 2014 from Gulfport, Mississippi, Chiquita’s banana imports have added about 60,000 twenty-foot-equivalents per year to the port’s volume.
New Orleans’ imports of full containers rose 22.5 percent year-over-year in 2015, to 113,852 TEUs, according to PIERS, a sister product of JOC.com within IHS. Exports reached 252,126 TEUs, up 5.7 percent. Combined full and empty volume topped 500,000 TEUs for the first time last year.
Landing the Chiquita business was a coup for New Orleans, which lost its once-busy banana import trade to Gulfport in the 1960s and 1970s after repeated labor disruptions made importers receptive to overtures from Mississippi. Chiquita’s relocation to New Orleans was aided by Louisiana state incentives. When it made New Orleans its mid-Gulf of Mexico import base, Chiquita began using space chartered on Mediterranean Shipping Co. vessels. At Gulfport, the company had operated its own ships.
After changing ports, Chiquita kept its fruit-ripening operations at Gulfport, citing congestion at New Orleans. The company also has continued to use the Mississippi port for storage of southbound paper shipments and for containerized produce imports carried by another U.S.-Central America carrier, Crowley Liner Services. When Chiquita announced its move to New Orleans, the company was planning to merge with Irish fruit company Fyffes. That deal fell through, and Chiquita was purchased by Brazilian companies Cutrale Group and Safra Group last January.
