ATLANTA – The Port of Savannah experienced its second busiest month on record in October, the Georgia Ports Authority reported Monday.
The port handled 552,800 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containerized cargo last month, an increase of 9.8% over October of last year. That put Savannah’s total for October below only the 575,500 TEUs the port moved in August.
“There has been downward pressure on the total U.S. container trade related to inflation and a shift in consumer spending toward services such as restaurants and travel,” said Joel Wooten, the authority’s board chairman. “However, the Port of Savannah continues to outperform relative to the national market, driving new business for Georgia.”
The Port of Brunswick also had a strong October. Colonel’s Island Terminal handled 70,233 units of roll-on/roll-off cargo last month, an increase of 22,045 units over the same month a year ago, or nearly 46%.
“Greater availability of computer chips has allowed carmakers to increase production,” said Cliff Pyron, chief commercial officer for the ports authority. “This, combined with manufacturers’ traditional end-of-year push, yielded strong results for our October auto volumes.”
Authority Executive Director Griff Lynch said the Port of Savannah is continuing to make progress reducing the backlog of ships at anchor waiting to enter the port.
Additionally, Savannah and other East and Gulf Coast ports have been gaining market share relative to the West Coast.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.