Container throughput in September at the Port of Savannah jumped 13.5 percent sequentially from August and by 11.1 percent year-over-year.
The port’s Garden City Container Terminal handled 269,853 20-foot equivalent units in September, compared with 237,749 TEUs in August and 242,995 TEUs a year earlier. Loaded import containers in September totaled 100,544 and export containers, 105,447.
Total container throughput climbed by 3.7 in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, which is the first quarter of the Georgia Ports Authority’s 2012 fiscal year.
During the quarter, the port handled 770,190 TEUs, compared with 742,593 last year. The GPA said the quarterly container results were aided by an early peak shipment of holiday goods, which largely occurred during September.
The ports of Savannah and Brunswick moved 6.5 million tons of freight in the third quarter, an increase of 5 percent year-over-year.
Breakbulk activity in Brunswick and Savannah continues to lead port growth, reporting 16.3 percent quarterly and 31.8 percent September increases. Heavy automobile and machinery throughput is leading the volume surge.
Brunswick’s quarterly output, measured in tonnage, showed a 24.8 percent increase over last year, rising from 363,374 tons to 453,358 tons. In monthly totals, retailers’ earlier-than-expected holiday orders pushed the Port of Savannah’s growth rate over last year to 13.5 percent in total tonnage for the month of September, moving 2,080,925 tons of cargo in the single month.
That figure is up from 1,833,590 tons moved in September 2010. The Port of Brunswick recorded 56.2 percent growth over last September’s 110,403 tons, to reach 172,453 in total tonnage for the month.
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