The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) handled 422,300 TEU in December 2023, down 4 per cent or almost 18,500 TEU from the same month in 2022.
In 2023, the Port of Savannah handled 4.9 million TEU, a 16 per cent decline from the previous year. Higher inflation and interest rates reportedly hampered consumer purchasing, resulting in more inventory in warehouses.
In contrast, the Port of Brunswick handled a record 775,565 vehicles and machinery in last year, up 15.6 per cent from the previous year.
GPA’s $262 million investment and expansion acreage aims to make Colonel’s Island the premier RoRo facility in the US.
This expansion reportedly includes near-dock warehousing serving auto and machinery processing at Colonel’s Island Terminal, with three new warehouses under construction and more new processing centres set to open later this year, 122 acres of new RoRo cargo storage space, a fourth RoRo berth in the works and a new rail yard planned.
READ: Georgia Ports, CSX introduce new rail service
Georgia Ports President and CEO, Griff Lynch, stated: “At its current rate of growth, the Port of Brunswick is poised to become the nation’s busiest gateway for RoRo cargo. We will be ready to serve this growth with our capital improvement projects underway and available land to expand to demand.”
“We are using this time to invest in capacity for future needs. Georgia Ports Authority is committed to investing $4.2 billion in the next 10 years. With the new year, we are beginning to see renewed strength in container volumes, which should result in more favorable comparisons moving forward the next six months,” added Lynch.
That same month, GPA outlined its recent port enhancements at the 2023 Georgia Transportation Summit.
