The impact of COVID-19 on global trade was apparent last month at the Port of Charleston, which saw a 17.2 percent drop in the number of loaded cargo boxes moving through its terminals.
That follows a 13.3 percent year-over-year decline in April, as shipping lines have canceled hundreds of sailings worldwide due to the coronavirus and related factory shutdowns and travel restrictions.
Jim Newsome, president and CEO of the State Ports Authority, has said the "challenges brought on by COVID-19" were expected. Despite struggles in recent months, the port's containerized cargo volumes are roughly even with last year at this point, with one month left in the fiscal year.
The pandemic also dented output at South Carolina's passenger vehicle plants that use the port.
Just 2,191 vehicles were exported from Charleston in May — the lowest monthly figure since the Great Recession. BMW's manufacturing campus in the Upstate and the Volvo Cars factory in Ridgeville were shut down for parts of April and May due to the coronavirus.
Last week, BMW confirmed 14 active cases of COVID-19 at its Greer plant. All are unrelated, the carmaker said, and those who've tested positive are in quarantine.
"The affected areas of the plant have since undergone a deep and thorough disinfecting process," BMW said in a statement.
Volvo, which has not reported any local COVID-19 cases, has taken a production hit on two fronts. Its Berkeley County site, which builds the S60 sedan, lost 1½ months because of the virus and then was forced to shut down again because of a shortage of parts from suppliers in Mexico.
The company's assembly line was expected to restart June 5, but spokeswoman Stephanie Mangini said that's been pushed to June 29.
Dredge denial
There won't be any new money to dredge Georgetown Harbor to make the city's hemmed-in port more accessible to barges moving supplies to and from Liberty Steel.
With the economy reeling from COVID-19, Georgetown County Council canceled a sales tax referendum planned for November that would have raised money for capital projects. Among the most expensive proposals on the wish list was $26.3 million to dredge the inner harbor — the Sampit River that winds around Goat Island — to a 15-foot depth.
There's still $6 million left from a 2014 sales tax increase that was earmarked for harbor dredging, and the county plans to use that money for a study that will explore alternatives to dredging that could benefit recreational boaters and industry.
The county had to cancel its 2014 dredging plans because the price tag more than doubled and the project lost state and federal funding. The fast-silting harbor has left the Port of Georgetown unable to accommodate most vessels.
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June 22, 2020 at 02:00AM
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Coronavirus slowdown extends at Port of Charleston | COVID-19 - Charleston Post Courier
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