Archives



Business, Freight News, Sea


SCPA: Container Volumes Up in August; Breaks Ground on New Headquarters

[ October 2, 2017   //   ]

Fiscal year to date, South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA) container volume is ahead of last year with 360,139 TEUs handled since July.
As measured in pier containers, or total box volume, the port handled 100,427 containers in August. Nearly 204,000 pier containers moved across the docks of the Wando Welch and North Charleston terminals in July and August combined.
“Fall is a traditionally strong season for the port, and we look for year-over-year volumes to increase in September and October compared to moderate growth in August,” said Jim Newsome, SCPA president and CEO.
In non-containerized cargo, SCPA handled 45,615 pier tons in August. Charleston has moved 88,035 tons of breakbulk cargo fiscal year to date.
Inland Port Greer handled 12,742 rail moves in August, the second-highest month in its history. The facility is 18 percent ahead of last fiscal year’s volumes, with 19,753 rail moves handled over the last two months.
In other news, the Board approved a construction contract for the first phase of a project to improve traffic flow at the Wando Terminal. The project includes the addition of an outbound truck lane, additional outbound security kiosks, extension of inbound truck queue lanes and a new parking lot to serve the terminal office building.
SCPA also held a groundbreaking ceremony on September 25 at the site of its new headquarters in Mount Pleasant. The new 84,000 sq. ft. headquarters at the Wando Welch Terminal will house approximately 200 employees who are currently working from multiple office locations.
“SCPA is extremely excited to break ground on our new headquarters, which serve as a single, modern campus for employees with direct access to terminal operations,” said Newsome. “The Port adopted a new vision and values last year as part of a culture change initiative for our 500 employees, and a logical extension of that effort is the development of a new building that consolidates all office employees into one space. I also believe that our customers want to see ships and a terminal operating when they visit us – that’s the nature of our business, and the location of our headquarters near the Wando Welch Terminal, our busiest container terminal, is ideal in that regard.”

Tags: