Containers moved across the docks of South Carolina Ports’ piers rose to their highest levels last month since August 2008 last month.
In what is usually strong month, according to South Carolina Port Authority (SCPA) president and CEO Jim Newsome, the port authority saw an 11 percent rise in pier throughput for the month after handling 85,616 boxes.
“With growth of both import and export cargo, we expect April to be a strong month as well,” said Newsome.
During the month of March, the SCPA handled a total of 150,516 TEU, up 10 percent on levels recorded during the corresponding period in 2013. The result means that TEU volume for the fiscal year to date has risen by 5.3 percent thus far, with 1.2 million handled since July last year – a figure well above the market average.
Meanwhile, non-containerised cargo is also on the up. Charleston’s Union Pier (UTP) for its part, has seen significant rises in breakbulk tonnage, as has Georgetown, where volumes have increased 10 percent since the start of the current fiscal year.
“Union Pier recently had the opportunity to handle additional cargo in the breakbulk segment, and we expect strong growth of non-containerised cargo volumes in the last quarter of our fiscal year,” added Newsome.
