Georgia Ports Have Best January Ever
Georgia’s ports experienced their busiest month ever with double-digit growth across all business sectors, the Georgia Ports Authority said Feb. 24.
In Brunswick, bulk cargo more than doubled to 235,802 tons in January, an increase of 125,998 tons over the same month last year, the ports authority announced.
Also, break bulk cargo more than doubled at the Colonels Island and Mayors Point terminals in Brunswick, and at Ocean Terminal in Brunswick. Those shipments grew by nearly 18% to 211,575 tons.
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Unlike oil, grain and some minerals that are not packaged, break bulk cargo is shipped in bags, boxes, crates or drums and must be loaded individually.
There was also a 7% increase in roll-on/roll-off vehicle and equipment shipments. The ports authority said 52,778 units of cars, trucks and tractors were moved at its docks in January, an increase of 3,389 vehicles. Most of those shipments were at Colonels Island in Brunswick.
Georgia Ports Authority Executive Director Griff Lynch credited efficiencies at the shipping terminals, having interstate highways within minutes of the ports and the fastest rail transit in the South Atlantic region for the increases.
The supply chain efficiencies helped account for the record 3 million tons of cargo moved in January, up 623,504 tons from the same period in 2016.
An increase in loaded containers in Savannah resulted in a 22% growth to 2.57 million tons for the month.
“The phenomenal growth at Georgia’s ports speaks to the powerful, vibrant economy of Georgia and the Southeastern U.S.,” said Jimmy Allgood, chairman of the Georgia Ports Authority board.
Allgood said the ports will continue to capture a larger share of the market as the state builds a “megaterminal” for rail shipments, deepens the harbor at Savannah and works with the largest fleet of cranes of any U.S. terminal.
