The Port of Charleston handled 108,994 TEU in February, up from 101,900 TEU in February of last year. During the fiscal year to date (July through February), Charleston handled 912,789 TEU, up 12.4% 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%.
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. Break-bulk tonnage in the Ports of Charleston and Georgetown was up more than 44% 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 USD21.7 million project to reconfigure and improve Columbus Street Terminal as Charleston’s principal break-bulk, 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 totaled more than USD4 billion in cars shipped through the Port of Charleston.