After two years in the red, the Alabama State Port Authority started the 2012 fiscal year with a USD 5 million profit in the first quarter.
Port Authority executive director Mr Jimmy Lyons said that he's cautiously optimistic that the economy is recovering from its doldrums and he is intent on launching another period of capital projects and expansions at the Port of Mobile to take advantage of that.
The authority posted a net income of about USD 5.1 million on revenue of about USD 35.3 million in the October to December period. About USD 4 million of that was in non recurring income, most stemming from the sale of assets, such as a piece of the old International Paper mill site.
It's the first time in three years that the authority has been in the black during its first quarter. Last year, the authority had a net loss of about USD 500,000 during those months.
Mr Lyons said that "I'm not ready to jump up and start singing 'Happy Days,' but I'm optimistic we may be coming out of this.”
Mr Lyons said that the authority was able to turn around its numbers despite a drop in activity at McDuffie Coal Terminal, its largest operation. Import coal is down because power plants are burning more natural gas, a commodity that is seeing winter prices at a 10 year low. Export coal is also down due to some mining problems upstate.
Mr Lyons said he expects the export coal to rebound and perhaps break the 10 million tons barrier for the first time, driven by increased demand in Asia and Latin America.
The slumping coal market was offset in part by a surge in iron and steel, Lyons said, and the authority continued its across the board efforts to keep spending down.
Mr Lyons said that now is the time for the authority to launch into another major expansion, specifically around the Mobile Container Terminal. The authority is trying to cobble together money to build a rail terminal there that will make it easier to offload shipping containers to trains.
In addition, he said, the port just started to market land it owns near the container terminal, trying to attract warehouse and distribution operations. Potential users could be large chains like Wal Mart or Target, or distribution companies that have several smaller retail clients.
