4 minute read
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 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. 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 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 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. 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. 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
ConneCting CoRK to inteRnational MaRKetS
irish – uS trade
port of Cork Developments
remains competitive.
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.
expoRting anD Supply Chain hoW CoRK ChaMBeR Can SuppoRt you
exporting advice and information
Cork Chamber’s Export team can provide advice and information about your export documentation requirements, such as:
Certificates of Origin ATA Carnets Legalisations Notarisations
Furthermore, if you are looking for information about your obligations as an exporter post-Brexit, then please contact our team.
Shaping eu trade policy
The Chamber hosts the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) project which provides supports to SMEs who are trading internationally or looking to expand into new markets. The European Commission uses the EEN, which has approx. 600 offices in over 60 countries, to gather feedback from SMEs on current and future EU policies and legislation. The Commission is asking on SMEs to share their experiences of supply chain disruptions via a short questionnaire that will help them to calibrate their policies for recovery.
You can participate in the survey here: https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/ runner/SCD-Covid19.
learning & networking at international events
At a recent EEN event online, hosted by an EEN partner in Germany, over 250 participants registered for a cross-border conference and business matching session focused on the themes of digital innovation and current trends, such as IoT, in the areas of logistics, warehousing and transport. The event saw attendees from 38 countries registered for the pre-booked meeting schedule, which resulted in over 170 one-to-one meetings taking place online.
To keep up-to-date with the latest EEN events and initiatives see: www. ec.europa.eu
Meet the inteRnational teaM
Katherine Fitzpatrick
Director of International Relations T: (021) 4530137 E: Katherine@corkchamber.ie
Margaret Kelly
imelda Mulcahy
Export Documentation Manager T: (021) 453 0130 E: imelda@corkchamber.ie
leigh Delaney
Exports & International Relations Executive T: (021) 453 0148 E: ldelaney@corkchamber.ie
