The South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA) handled 200,594 TEUs in July, an increase of 10 percent year-over-year as it pushes forward with expansion projects.
During the month, compared to last July:
• Loaded container imports rose 9.9 percent to 87,549 TEUs;
• Loaded container exports rose 9.5 percent to 69,492 TEUs;
• And empty containers rose 10.7 percent to 43,553 TEUs.
SCPA’s container volumes during the month marked its strongest July on record and the second-highest monthly record in its history, which was set in June at 201,163 TEUs.
In February, construction on the Charleston Harbor deepening project commenced. The project will bring the main channel in Charleston from 45 feet to 52 feet, with the entrance channel dredged to 54 feet.
Construction is well under way, with three Great Lakes Dock and Dredge Company dredges currently at work in the entrance channel, Erin Dhand, manager of corporate communications and community affairs at SCPA, told American Shipper Monday.
The next construction contract will be awarded in the fall for dredging the harbor to the Wando Welch Terminal. This contract will include widening the turning basin to 1,650 feet, a benefit that will be achieved before the slated completion of this construction phase in March 2021, she said.
In April, SCPA opened its second inland port, Inland Port Dillon, and in June, the port’s board of directors adopted a 2019 fiscal year financial plan that includes $277.6 million in capital expenditures, the largest capex plan in SCPA’s history.
SCPA’s largest capital expenditure for fiscal 2019, which began July 1, is the $117.1 million allocated toward construction at the Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal. Phase one of the container terminal is expected to open in 2021.