A modest bump in cargo levels in July at the Port of Charleston has the State Ports Authority hoping for a quick turnaround from the global shipping woes brought on by the COVID-19 crisis.
The port's terminals moved 176,974 cargo containers measured in 20-foot increments in July. That's a 13 percent increase over the previous month but it still trails the year-ago total by more than 33,500 boxes. Jim Newsome, the authority's president and CEO, noted the July figures represent a positive trend.
Automobile exports, primarily BMWs built at the German automaker's Spartanburg County plant, were up 51 percent year-over-year as vehicle sales in key markets such as China rebounded from earlier coronavirus-related declines.
"We are encouraged by some signs of an initial rebound in our container and automotive volumes, as well as an increase in imports and a decline in blanked sailings (canceled or rescheduled voyages)," Newsome said. "However, a more substantial recovery is dependent on the duration and intensity of the economic impacts from the pandemic, and ultimately, on a vaccine."
There have been 67 blank sailings at the port since January, with five more on the books this summer from northern Europe.
The Port of Charleston had been setting cargo records in the two months before the coronavirus started spreading through the U.S. in March.
"I am confident that we will weather this uncertainty and come out stronger," Newsome said.
John Reinhart, executive director of the Virginia Port Authority, said he also is seeing signs of stabilization at the port's terminals in Norfolk.
"The number of blank sailings is reducing and we are seeing an uptick in volume on some services, so the month-to-month cargo losses should subside during the near-term," he said. Virginia's port had a nearly 5 percent increase in containerized cargo in July compared with the previous month. Still, cargo is down about 17 percent from a year ago.
"This is still a very unpredictable trade environment, so our team is preparing for any eventuality," Reinhart said.
Charleston's closest competing port in Savannah has no released July cargo totals, but said the coronavirus impacted trade during the last four months of the fiscal year, which ended June 30. Containerized cargo dropped by nearly 1 percent at the port's Garden City Terminal for the year.
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