The Georgia Ports Authority had a successful fiscal year in 2022, handling a record-breaking 5.76 million twenty-foot equivalent units since last July.
GPA’s fiscal year 2022 went from July 1, 2021, until June 30, 2022. Container volumes in 2022 were 8% higher year on year.
June was also a record month for the Port of Savannah, with 494,107 TEUs handled, or 10.6 percent more cargo than in June 2021.
The surge was ascribed to a “substantial shift of vessel calls” from the West Coast to the East Coast due to labor negotiations and delayed rail access there. Container quantities diverted from South Carolina’s Port of Charleston, as well as the port’s own “organic development” among its customers, both contributed to record 2022 numbers. These conditions also contributed to a higher-than-usual number of vessels anchored.
According to the port authority, the Port of Savannah is now managing the most ad hoc and new service vessels to date.
“Several variables, including faster infrastructure projects, our inland pop-up yards, and an influx of truck drivers relocating to the Southeast,” stated GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch in a news release.
GPA observed record truck turns during both day and night gate operations in the fiscal year 2022, with the Garden City Terminal averaging 14,500 truck moves per week in June.
The main exports were forest products, kaolin clay, and automotive cargo, totaling 1.32 million TEUs, while imports reached 2.86 million TEUs. The top import commodities were furniture, machinery, and plastic goods.
Breakbulk tonnage increased by 15.7% to more than 3 million tons, with breakbulk forest products at Brunswick’s Mayor’s Point Terminal increasing from 52,244 tons in 2021 to 252,000 tons in 2022.
“A significant portion of the growth in breakbulk cargo transiting GPA docks is due to the significantly cheaper cost of breakbulk movement compared to container rates in today’s market,” Lynch explained.
GPA’s board of directors approved the $30.25 million acquisition of 12 new rubber-tired gantry cranes and associated container handling equipment during its July meeting. The extra gantry cranes will boost the overall number of gantry cranes at the Port of Savannah to 234.
GPA is also looking to extend dock space at the Port of Savannah to accommodate larger ships and boost container storage capacity. In Brunswick, the port authority also intends to improve its ability to handle automobiles and breakbulk.
