Port of Savannah
ATLANTA – The Port of Savannah had a good October but business is down when looking at a bigger picture.
Savannah handled 449,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containerized cargo last month, the port’s fourth-busiest October ever and a 5% increase over October 2019, the most recent year not affected by the pandemic.
But business is down for the first portion of the current fiscal year, which began July 1. The Port of Savannah moved 1.7 million TEUs in July, August, September, and October, a decrease of 18% over the same period during the last fiscal year.
The good news is Georgia Port Authority officials announced Friday that all berths at Savannah’s Garden City Terminal are open for business for the first time in two and a half years.
“Our infrastructure planning efforts will be realized with Berth 1’s opening, and we now have ample berth capacity to handle demand,” said Kent Fountain, the authority’s board chairman. “The timing is important for the holiday season and last-minute orders.”
Like Savannah, the Port of Brunswick also saw a decline in activity last month. The ports authority moved 67,500 units of autos and machinery in October, down 5.8% compared to October of last year. However, Roll-on/Roll-off cargo business for the first four months of fiscal 2024 increased 17% over the same period in fiscal 2023.