South Carolina Ports said it will pause operations at the Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal in North Charleston, with the shutdown scheduled to begin Aug. 1, citing an uncertain trade outlook in the second half of 2026 and the need to reduce costs.
SC Ports in a statement said that consolidating container activity elsewhere in the Charleston port complex is the practical response right now, rather than continuing to run Leatherman at current volumes.
The project to expand Leatherman from the current 700,000 TEUs of initial capacity to 2.4 million TEUs at full buildout remains underway.
This is not the first time Leatherman has been tied to operational changes; the terminal reopened in 2024 after a labor dispute and was positioned as a key source of added capacity for Charleston.
The current statement, though, centers on softer demand and cost control rather than labor issues.
SC Ports said the Leatherman move is a “short-term pause,” and that “an uncertain trade outlook in the back half of 2026 coupled with the need to lower costs” drove the decision.
“The industry faces numerous headwinds, an uncertain trade forecast, and tempered volumes,” the agency said. “This decision aligns with the port’s continued focus on cost competitiveness to ensure the business is well-positioned for growth.”
Charleston implications
Operationally, the port said container work will be consolidated at Wando Welch and North Charleston terminals, where capacity is sufficient to manage short-term growth.
Inland rail network
The inland rail network is likely to feel the effects more in routing and timing than in total system size. SC Ports has tied Leatherman’s long-term role to the Navy Base Intermodal Facility, which is supposed to connect the terminal to inland cargo handling, but that wider expansion plan remains a separate issue from the temporary pause. In the near term, cargo that would have flowed through Leatherman’s intermodal chain will instead move through the active Charleston terminals, so rail schedules, drayage patterns, and inland ramp timing may need to be adjusted around Wando and North Charleston.
Read more articles by Stuart Chirls here.
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