G ROW ING YOU R BUS INE SS
Keeping the Show on the Road Since March this year, the coronavirus pandemic has had a dramatic impact on the movement of goods and people and has severely affected global supply chains. The current climate has highlighted the unique challenges that Ireland faces as an island economy and exposed weaknesses in the resilience of international supply chains. As the airline industry began to cut routes and discontinue services during the early days of the pandemic, the cost
of airfreight for exporting companies skyrocketed. On the other hand, many companies found it impossible to source containers for shipping their products, as port operations in vital hubs such as China were shut down. Nonetheless, the frontline staff in the logistics and transport sectors having been working overtime to ensure that essential goods have kept moving, and although, due to an exponential growth in demand, some products such as IT
and home office products have been in short supply, for the most part, the supermarkets have been well-stocked and online purchases have arrived at our doors. The importance of international connectivity has never been so stark, as we fight to ensure that our economy remains competitive.
Connecting Cork to International Markets The topic of a recent webinar, held in association with the Irish American Business Chamber Network (IABCN) in Philadelphia, was the increasing connectivity between Cork and the East Coast of the USA, as demonstrated by the launch in May this year, of a new weekly direct shipping service from Cork to the US, giving Ireland its first direct container service to the USA in many years. The Independent Container Line (ICL) service sails from the Port of Cork every Saturday arriving on the East Coast of the USA in Penn Terminals, Pennsylvania, 10 days later, offering Irish exporters the most reliable and fastest delivery times for their supply chains. For exporters sending their products onwards from Penn Terminals, a strong multi-modal infrastructure hub allows them to access 40% of the US population within a 24hour drive of the port in Pennsylvania.
Irish – US Trade
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The United States is Ireland’s top export destination, accounting for €47 billion or 31% of total exports. Ireland runs a trade surplus with the US of approximately €33 billion in goods (however we run a substantial services trade deficit with US, therefore our overall trade is balanced). There are over 500 Irish owned companies (in Ireland) exporting to USA, around two-thirds of these having a full-time presence in the US, ranging from a single person sales
office to manufacturing operations with thousands of employees. US-owned firms employ around 150,000 people in Ireland while Irish-owned firms employ around 100,000 people in the US. Our top exports to the US include pharmaceutical and medical products, beverages and dairy products.
Port of Cork Developments
With the opening of the Port of Cork’s new €80 million Cork Container Terminal in Ringaskiddy on the horizon, there is great potential to grow cargo volumes from and to Ireland. This is a fantastic strategic development for the Port of Cork, which is a designated Tier 1 Port, as they look to develop Ringaskiddy as a modern logistics hub. The new terminal will move Port operations from the river, out to a deepwater port which will be able to accommodate the berthing the largest container ships currently calling to Ireland.
The new transatlantic connection through ICL is complemented by a new sea route to Zeebrugge in Belgium, launched earlier this year by CLdN, providing a direct link to mainland Europe for Ro-Ro (roll on-roll off ) cargo. Direct connectivity to Europe will be vital for Ireland come the end of this year, as the new customs regime with the UK is expected to cause significant delays for trucks transiting the UK landbridge to reach the EU market. More than 80 per cent of the one million RoRo lorries using Irish ports every year go through UK ports, with the remainder going on direct routes to continental Europe.
