WILMINGTON — Enstructure and the Port Wilmington have signed a new deal with one of the top banana and produce companies to continue business.
Chiquita Brands has extended its agreement with Port Wilmington after 37 years of using the port as its hub for tropical fruits after it first consolidated its supply chain operations in North America. Chiquita ships 270,000 tons of bananas and thousands of tons in Pineapple, clementines, grapes and more through the port.
“We win the future when Chiquita, among the world’s leading global fruit producers, again chooses the Port of Wilmington,” Governor Matt Meyer said in a prepared statement. “This agreement will fuel job growth and prosperity for Delawareans for years to come.”
Chiquita leases around 20 acres at Port Wilmington and makes a weekly call there. The next scheduled import is at 11 p.m. on June 9.
Terms, including lease renewals, remained confidential and Enstructure declined to comment. In the past, Chiquita had extended its lease in five-year increments.
Enstructure Co-CEOs Matthew Satnick and Philippe De Montigny said in a prepared statement that the continued agreement marks a “significant milestone” for the state and Diamond State Port Corp. as there are hopes for a new $635 million container port in nearby Edgemoor in the future.
“We are reinforcing our commitment to the perishable fruit industry, investing in the port’s customers and infrastructure, and increasing job opportunities for our workforce, all while enhancing the quality of service we provide to long-standing partners like Chiquita,” Satnick and De Montigny said in a joint statement.
“We are grateful to the State of Delaware and [the International Longshoremen’s Union Local 1694] for their support and look forward to ensuring the continued success of Chiquita’s mid-Atlantic supply chain operations and Delaware’s maritime industry,” the Satnick and De Montigny added.
If the $635 million terminal is realized, that project will open the gates for more modern vessels that hold 10,000 containers that are 20 feet long. State officials believe the expansion could bring 6,000 new jobs, many with the ILA, and generate $40 million in tax revenue.
But that project has also hit several snags, including a ruling from a Delaware Superior Court judge that invalidated permits for underwater work in April. Meyer and the Democratic leaders of the General Assembly have also been at odds over the board that governs the port. To date, the legislature has revived the Port of Wilmington Expansion Task Force as a way to assert its own voice in the future of the board.
