BUSINESS BRIEFS
Horizon Lines raises fuel rates
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Horizon Lines, Hawai'i's No. 2 shipping company, said yesterday it will raise the fuel surcharge for its Hawai'i and Guam service by 1.5 percentage points to 24 percent effective Aug. 20.
This follows Matson Navigation Co.'s announcement last week that it would raise the fuel surcharge by the same amount.
The amended fuel surcharge was filed Tuesday with the Surface Transportation Board. Horizon said fuel costs are forecast to remain at this level "or move higher as we move through the summer season and into the fall."
HONOLULU NO. 3 IN PARKING COSTS
Downtown Honolulu has the third-most expensive daily parking rate among 50 U.S. cities, according to a new survey.
Honolulu's median cost was $32 a day, or just behind the $34 median cost in downtown New York City and $33 in Boston. The survey conducted by Colliers International, a commercial real estate company, also found parking cost $42 a day in the Manhattan portion of New York City.
Colliers said the average median rate among the markets was $15.38 daily and $152.38 monthly. Honolulu's median monthly rate of $209.42 was eighth highest among U.S. cities.
NANOPOINT WINS DESIGN AWARD
Honolulu-based Nanopoint, a technology company developing cellular imaging products for disease research, recently won a gold medal in the 2007 International Design Excellence Awards.
Nanopoint's cellTRAY imaging system was recognized in the medical and scientific products category. The system, which has a starting price of $10,000, allows researchers to look inside individual live cells at ultra-high resolution.
The Business Week/Industrial Designers Society of America competition was held earlier this month. Nanopoint was one of 81 winners in a field of 1,691 entries.
HAWAI'I PAPAYA OUTPUT DIPS 2%
Hawai'i papaya production fell 2 percent to an estimated 2.1 million pounds in June, compared with June 2006.
Output for the first half of the year totaled 13 million pounds, which was slightly higher than the same period last year, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service. Papaya growers were expected to receive an estimated 52 cents a pound for fresh fruit in June, which is up 10 percent a pound from June 2006.
CROSSFIBER WILL WORK ON SWITCH
CrossFiber Inc., a San Diego-based maker of optical networking equipment, said its research and development operation at the Maui Research and Technology Park is developing control systems for an optical switch.
The Maui facility is working on precision control of micro-electro-mechanical systems chips that are part of CrossFiber's optical switches for fiber optic networks. The devices allow the switching of up to 128 fibers.
NATION AND WORLD
WEST'S ECONOMY 'MODERATE'
The latest economic report from the Federal Reserve System's San Francisco district notes the economy is expanding at a moderate pace within its region, which covers Hawai'i and most parts of the western United States.
The report said travel and tourism activity was high though foreign tourist activity shows some weakness.
It said tourism in Hawai'i has picked up lately, but that there has been a reduction in the number of Japanese visitors this year.
It also noted that real estate activity is slowing in many states but that prices continue to rise in some markets such as Hawai'i.
Each of the Federal Reserve's 12 districts issues a Beige Book eight times a year. The reports include an informal gathering of economic trends and conditions within each region.
HOTEL REVENUES RISE 5.7 PERCENT
U.S. hotels' revenue per available room rose 5.7 percent in the week ended July 21 from the same period a year earlier, according Bloomberg News.
The report said Smith Travel Research reported revenue per available room of $79.79 compared with the $75.49 of a year earlier.
The figure, also known as RevPar, is based on average occupancy and room rates.
The number of hotel rooms occupied was 76.1 percent, or slightly below a year earlier's 76.2 percent.
The average daily rate charged nationwide was $104.83.
This compared with the average daily room rate of $99.08 a year earlier.
