The South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA), which operates the ports of Charleston, Georgetown and Greer, has announced that container throughput amounted to 150,790 Twenty Foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) in September, an increase of 13.4% over the same month last year.
 
Charleston handled 65,214 tonnes of breakbulk cargo in September. In the first quarter of the 2015 fiscal year, which began in July, it handled 199,319 tonnes of non-containerised cargo.
 
SCPA president and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jim Newsome said that "SCPA experienced fairly significant growth during the first quarter, and above-plan volumes are reflected in our strong financial performance for the period.”
 
With regards to its harbour deepening plans, the Draft Integrated Feasibility Report and Environmental Impact Statement issued last week by the US Army Corps of Engineers recommended the Charleston harbour be deepened to 52 feet, allowing Charleston to become the deepest port in the US Southeast.
 
Newsome said, "Achieving this depth is critical for the SCPA, given the increasing size of vessels calling our terminals today.”
 
"The boom in manufacturing across the Southeast is also driving the need for our port to provide deep water for vessels fully-loaded with heavy manufacturing exports."