PORT OF SAVANNAH REPORTS FOUR MONTHS OF UNPRECENDENTED GROWTH

PORT OF SAVANNAH REPORTS FOUR MONTHS OF UNPRECENDENTED GROWTH    The port of Savannah, Ga. handled a record volume of container traffic in the July to October period, with volumes running 26 percent ahead of year-earlier levels.
   Doug Marchand, executive director for the Georgia Ports Authority, said that Georgia’s ports attained “four consecutive months of unprecedented growth.”
   Savannah moved 491,991 TEUs this fiscal year, from July to October, representing a 26.8 percent increase or an additional 103,878 units over last year.
   A record 138,456 TEUs moved via the port of Savannah during October, representing a 33.2 percent increase. East Coast ports benefited from some diversion of cargoes away from the U.S. West Coast during the labor dispute in October. In September, the port handled 124,297 TEUs, up 31.4 percent over September 2001.
   The Georgia Ports Authority expects to reach a record yearly traffic volume this year, according to independent forecasts.
   “The gross tonnage moving through Georgia’s ports should rise significantly in 2003,” predicted Dr. Richard J. Cebula, Economist from Armstrong Atlantic State University, during the recent Economic Outlook 2002 Luncheon. “The long-term prospects of Georgia’s ports are excellent due to the advantages of being a transshipment point and also having the advantage of interstate access via interstates 16 and 95.”
   Marchand reported a 44-percent increase in auto/machinery units, or 31,533 units, at the port of Brunswick, also managed by the Georgia Ports Authority. The port has recently attracted Porsche Cars of North America, Inc. and Volvo Cars of North American as major clients for the Georgia Ports Authority.