Imports continue to fuel signs of a recovery at the Port of Charleston, with a record number of cargo containers moving through the port's terminals.
Meanwhile, a steady flow of BMWs and other vehicles are being exported to foreign markets from the Holy City.
The port set a record for the month of September by handling 195,101 containers measured in 20-foot increments — a slight increase over the same month last year. More than 46 percent of them were carrying imported goods such as furniture, home-and-garden equipment and other retail products that have helped to prop up consumer spending during the coronavirus pandemic.
Another 20 percent of total containers included empty boxes being shipped back to Asia and other markets where those imported goods are made.
"September volumes outperformed expectations as we see an uptick in cargo flowing through our marine terminals and inland ports," Jim Newsome, president and CEO of the State Ports Authority, said in a statement.
Newsome added the authority will "remain highly focused on capturing more retail goods and e-commerce cargo" for distribution to U.S. consumers through warehouses like the 3 million-square-foot Walmart import center to be built in Dorchester County.
The port has largely rebounded from sharp declines in cargo this past spring as global coronavirus fears mounted and factories shut down. All told, containerized cargo levels are down 9 percent in the fiscal year that started July 1. At the height of the pandemic, year-over-year cargo levels were down by nearly twice that amount.
Vehicle exports — primarily SUVs built at BMW's Upstate plant and S60 sedans manufactured at the Volvo Cars campus near Ridgeville — are up more than 20 percent since July as key car-buying markets in Asia have opened back up.
September also marked the arrival of the biggest container ship to visit U.S. East Coast ports, when the CMA CGM Brazil docked at Wando Welch Terminal in Mount Pleasant. The 1,204-foot-long vessel — roughly the size of two Washington Monuments places end-to-end — is capable of carrying up to 15,072 containers.
Other Southeast ports also are seeing increased business. The Port of Virginia said it set a record for September with the number of containers up more than 4 percent from last year.
The Georgia Ports Authority, which set an all-time cargo record in August, predicted that it was on track for 5 percent year-over-year growth in September but the final figures have not been released.
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October 10, 2020 at 03:06AM
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Port of Charleston seeing import-driven recovery | Business - Charleston Post Courier
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