August 18, 2020 (Courtesy of the Atlanta Business Journal)
Strong export markets and record volumes earlier in fiscal 2020 helped offset the impact of Covid-19 on cargo volumes at the Georgia ports.
The Georgia Ports Authority reported the Port of Savannah handled 4.44 million twenty-foot equivalent container units (TEUs) in Fiscal Year 2020, down less than 1% compared to fiscal 2019. Total tons crossing all GPA docks were a record 37.77 million, up 0.6% or 223,000 tons, compared to FY2019.
Container tons grew 2% or 560,440 tons to a record 33.5 million for the year, the GPA said.
“Cargo volume reductions related to COVID-19 were offset by the strength of our export markets and record volumes earlier in the year,” Griff Lynch, GPA’s executive director, said in an announcement. “This year’s better than expected performance is the result of excellent teamwork starting at the top with Governor Kemp and our board of directors who have been champions of our ports, to our GPA team members along with the International Longshoremen’s Association, the shipping lines, stevedores, trucking and rail — you have never given in or given up throughout the crisis. Thank you for your commitment and perseverance.”
The Port of Savannah is the third largest container gateway in the country, the top exporter of containerized agricultural goods and the fastest growing port of the last 10 years.
In June, Savannah-based third-party logistics company Port City Logistics announced it would, in partnership with Stravinski Capital Management, invest $80 million to build a 1.1-million-square-foot new headquarters and warehouse facility at 5816 Highway 21 in Port Wentworth, an expansion of its Chatham County operations that will create 200 new jobs. With the expansion, Port City Logistics expects to handle an additional 50,400 TEUs annually through the Port of Savannah. It’s expected to be completed in the next 18 months.“It’s all because of the success of Georgia Ports and what they’re doing,” Port City Logistics Chairman Billy Robinson said in an announcement. “We believe strongly in the future of GPA and our investment reaffirms our confidence in this major port gateway.”
Lynch said the expansion was not only a great win for “a local businessman and longtime friend of our ports, but the addition of more than a million square feet of warehouse space will provide our customers greater flexibility and increased capacity to grow cargo volumes.”
Plans for the new facility were in the works before Covid-19 shut down much economic activity worldwide, Robinson said. The flow of nonessential commodities has slowed as a result of the pandemic, but as the economy ramps back up, demand will return, he said.
Founded in 2001, Port City Logistics provides warehousing, drayage and over-the-road trucking as well as brokerage transportation services. It operates nine distribution centers within a 10-mile radius of the Georgia ports.