CHARLESTON CONTAINERS UP 10% IN SEPTEMBER

CHARLESTON CONTAINERS UP 10% IN SEPTEMBER    Riding a surge of imports, container volume through the port of Charleston increased by 10 percent in September, to about 131,000 TEUs, as compared to 118,000 TEU in September of last year.
   The port said that the volume rise for September followed an all-time record month in August, when Charleston handled 149,000 TEU.
   Loaded inbound containers through Charleston rose 14 percent from September 2001. Loaded outbound container volume was down 2 percent from last year. Empty outbound TEUs rose 54 percent in September from the same month last year, as containers were repositioned to overseas markets.
   Through the first quarter of fiscal year 2003 (July-September 2002), total container volume at the port increased 11 percent to 409,000 TEUs, up from 367,000 TEUs in the same period last year.
   The surge in container volume at the South Carolina port happened in the context of a boom in cargo volumes from Asia to the U.S. East Coast, driven partly by shippers’ concerns over labor problems on the West Coast.
   The port of Charleston is the fourth largest container port in the United States.