Port of Charleston achieves incremental box growth since mid-year

During the first four months of the South Carolina Ports Authority’s fiscal year, which began July 1, 2016, container volumes reached 689,753 TEUs, a 1.7 percent increase from the same period in 2015.    Container throughput at the Port of Charleston in October increased 2.9 percent from a year prior to 169,477 TEUs, the South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA) said Thursday.
   During the first four months of SCPA’s fiscal year, which began July 1, 2016, container volumes reached 689,753 TEUs, a 1.7 percent increase from the same period in 2015.
   Charleston is crawling back to break even after a stagnant start to the year, with calendar year volumes down 1.1 percent to 1.66 million TEUs through October.
   The slower growth is in line with that of many East Coast ports that are feeling the effects of stagnant global trade, while no longer enjoying the temporary boost in cargo from the West Coast freight diversion in 2014-2015.
   The number of standard shipping units is one way to measure volume, but the actual containers lifted regardless of size are how a port makes money. The SCPA said it has handled 6,277 more pier containers fiscal year-to-date than during the July-to-October period a year ago.
   South Carolina is experiencing more foreign direct investment in manufacturing plants that are expected to add to import and export traffic through Charleston in the coming years. Port Director Jim Newsome added that middle-class growth in emerging markets is likely to increase demand for goods and commodities produced in the Southeast, which will bring the port more business.
   The port’s inland terminal in Greer, 212 miles to the west, handled 9,211 rail moves last month. The facility’s rail volume rose 25.5 percent since the fiscal year began, with 35,427 rail moves.
   In non-containerized cargo volumes, Charleston handled 76,029 tons in October. Charleston’s break-bulk volumes are 10.2 percent ahead of fiscal year-to-date plans, with 293,780 tons handled since July.
   The board of commissioners on Thursday approved funding to cover some additional costs incurred since approving contracts for installation of a modern gate system at the Wando Welch Container Terminal last summer, which has helped improve turn times for truckers, as well as total implementation of an automated gate system at the North Charleston Terminal in February 2017. In addition, the board approved contracts related to construction and security services for the Leatherman Terminal, installation of bracing on three ship-to-shore cranes and the purchase of an aerial lift for rubber-tired gantry crane repairs.
   On Wednesday evening, the SCPA commissioned two new super post-Panamax cranes with a lighting show and fireworks display at the Wando Welch Terminal. The cranes, which offer 155 feet of lift height above the dock, were produced by ZPMC in China and delivered to SCPA in August.
   One of the cranes was damaged during installation and will have to be repaired.
   SCPA has ordered two additional ZPMC cranes for delivery by the end of 2017 and plans to raise four of its existing cranes to the same height.
   “We are planning for two shipping services with 14,000-TEU vessels to call Charleston by mid-2017, which will be a game-changer for the East Coast ports,” Newsome said in a statement. “By the end of next year, SCPA’s $44 million wharf strengthening project to handle larger ships will be complete, and we will have eight cranes with 155 feet of lift height capable of handling two 14,000-TEU ships simultaneously.”
   The SCPA also expects construction to begin on the first phase of its 52-foot harbor deepening project by the end of next year, making Charleston the deepest harbor on the East Coast by 2020.
   Read more about the port authority’s upgrades and strategy in American Shipper’s story, “Charleston prepares for bigger ships despite trade slowdown.”