Charleston posts strong container numbers

Container volume at South Carolina’s public ports was up seven percent in February on the heels on major improvements to container operations and the completion of a nearly $22-million project to accommodate growth in Charleston’s breakbulk sector.


For the first eight months of its financial year (July through February), box throughput at the South Carolina State Ports Authority’s (SCSPA) was up 12 percent.


The SCSPA anticipates continued, but moderate, growth through the year.


“Our team has re-established South Carolina’s commercial position and we are headed in the right direction,” said Jim Newsome, president and CEO of the SCSPA.


The Port of Charleston handled 108,994 TEUs in February, up from 101,900 TEUs in February last year. During the fiscal year to date, Charleston handled 912,789 TEUs, up 12.4 percent from the same period last year.


The increase follows a major streamlining in January of the SCSPA’s container business segment, where all container business was consolidated in two terminals in Charleston while gate operations and processes were harmonised at those terminals.


The move offered numerous benefits to port users, including extended gate hours and access to the SCSPA’s information systems for all port customers, all while boosting capacity by about 10 percent.


Breakbulk tonnage in the ports of Charleston and Georgetown was up more than 44 percent for the first eight months of the fiscal year, with 657,528 tonnes handled at the two ports in fiscal year 2011 versus 455,449 tonnes handled last year.


A $21.7-million project to reconfigure and improve Columbus Street Terminal as Charleston’s principal breakbulk, roll-on/roll-off and project cargo-handling facility was completed last month. The terminal now handles BMW’s growing export vehicle business that last year totalled more than US$4 billion in cars shipped through Charleston.
(Source:http://www.cargonewsasia.com)