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SC PORTS ACHIEVES HIGHEST FISCAL YEAR ON RECORD FOR CONTAINERS HANDLED
July 14, 2021
South Carolina (SC) Ports has announced its strongest fiscal year on record for containers handled at the Port of Charleston.
SC Ports noted that it handled 2.55 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) at Wando Welch Terminal, North Charleston Terminal and Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal in fiscal year 2021, which ended June 30. This is a 9.6% increase from fiscal year 2020.
Strong vehicle transport
In a statement, it said that vehicles remained a strong business segment, with 253,981 vehicles rolling across the docks of Columbus Street Terminal in fiscal year 2021, up 27% compared to the year prior.
"When fiscal year 2021 started last July, many businesses and ports were impacted from pandemic closures. This was soon followed by an unanticipated boom in imports as consumers’ buying habits shifted from services and travel to retail and home goods," the port on the US East Coast added.
It noted that SC Ports also saw strength in containerized, vehicle and inland port business segments throughout fiscal year 2021, including achieving record monthly year-over-year container volumes for the past four consecutive months.
"While the global pandemic has placed great strain on global supply chains, it has also highlighted how incredibly vital maritime, motor carrier and logistics workers are to the supply chain," SC Ports President and CEO Jim Newsome.
"They are keeping freight moving while handling unprecedented cargo increases. We owe them much gratitude for their hard work over the past year."
June volumes
In addition to a record fiscal year, SC Ports said it had a record June for its container business segment. SC Ports moved 231,758 TEUs in June, which is up 48.1% compared to June 2020 and up 15.6% compared to pre-pandemic levels in June 2019.
The Port of Charleston handled 128,622 pier containers in June, a 44.5% increase from June 2020 and a 13.8% increase compared to June 2019.
SC Ports said for June, vehicles transport were also strong. The Port handled 23,096 vehicles in June, a 60.7% increase year-over-year and a 25.3% jump from June 2019.
Expanding port capacity
SC Ports also gave an update on Phase One of its Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal project which began operations in March, marking the first greenfield container terminal to open in the US since 2009. The gateway noted that Leatherman Terminal adds a 1,400-foot berth and 700,000 TEUs of capacity to the Port of Charleston.
SC Ports also said there was a significant progress with the Charleston Harbor Deepening Project, which will yield 52 feet of depth in 2022.
"We have been highly focused on delivering world-class infrastructure at the right time," Newsome said. "We accomplished this in fiscal year 2021, most notably with the opening of Leatherman Terminal, which adds much needed capacity for customers."
"In fiscal year 2022, we will continue to invest in our port to provide more capacity and reliability for our customers as we grow above the market."
