Savannah's exports drive quarterly growth, boxes up 3.6pc

GEORGIA Ports Authority's (GPA) has announced that the second quarter of FY2010 ended December 2009 yielded a 3.6 per cent increase in container throughput compared with the October-December period the previous year.

"Georgia's ports are beginning to experience positive signs that the new shipping lines and capacity we added during the economic downturn are driving growth," said GPA executive director Curtis Foltz. "The continued surge in demand for our export commodities is creating opportunities for trade."

In December 2009, total container throughput amounted to 217,643 TEU, an increase of 18.2 per cent compared with December 2008. Export volumes for December rose 11.4 per cent, while loaded import containers grew eight per cent year on year, a statement from port authorities said.

"The GPA remains cautiously optimistic about the remainder of the current fiscal year," said GPA chairman Stephen Green.

In Brunswick, Colonel's Island reported record tonnage of 185,424 TEU due to increasing volumes in grain for export. This represents an almost four-fold increase compared with December 2008 and yielded a year to date increase of 37.5 per cent. Auto and machinery units handled by Brunswick in December rose by 47 per cent, but were still down for the fiscal year by 10.4 per cent.

(Source: www.schednet.com)