Fiscal 2013 was yet another record year for Georgia Ports Authority, with total tonnage, autos, bulk cargo and intermodal containers hitting new highs, while a protracted strike threat stopped the authority just short of the 3 million mark needed for a new record in containers moved.
“From October to March, we estimate at least 70,000 containers were diverted from our port to the West Coast as the possibility of an East Coast dockworkers strike loomed,” GPA executive director Curtis Foltz told more than 1,250 business leaders assembled at the Savannah International Trade Center to hear his annual State of the Ports speech.
“If not for that, we would have set a new record at more than 3 million. So, given those dynamics and the economic challenges here and abroad, it was a very good year.”
Fiscal 2014 promises to be even better, Foltz said, as the area continues to pull out of its economic slump.
Perhaps the most telling indications were the influx of new businesses and the resulting warehouse space they filled.
“Not only did the ports authority achieve strong growth across major segments of our business, but the private sector responded with the lease or development of more than 1.1 million square feet of distribution center space,” Foltz said. “One of the best signs that the economy is turning around is the shrinking availability of warehouse space.”
Of that newly filled space, more than 300,000 square feet is dedicated to cold storage, strengthening Georgia’s position in the expanding cold chain logistics market, he said.
Among the new customers contributing to distribution center growth this year were Nordic Logistics, Gulf States Cold Storage, appliance maker Haier America, medical supplier Dukal, third-party logistics provider OHL, Kent Bicycle, Giumarra International Berry and Huffy Bicycles.
New export business from Toyota and Nissan, combined with import vehicles from Subaru, led to a record 637,000 auto units moved — an increase of more than 67,000 from a year earlier.
Intermodal containers — those that arrived and/or departed the terminal by rail — totaled 315,000, the ports’ highest number ever.
“That’s more than 300,000 containers that didn’t hit our roads.” Foltz said.
With more than 44 percent of the U.S. population best served by the Port of Savannah, GPA features 37 weekly container services, second only on the East Coast to the Port of New York/New Jersey and well ahead of Charleston and Jacksonville at 24 and 8, respectively.
“We’re really proud that we are the only East Coast port handling all six services in the major container lines’ new G-6 network,” he said.
GPA’s varied cargo mix — containers, agribulk, breakbulk cargo such as forest products, and such roll-on/roll-off cargo as autos and machinery units — contributed to the growth in total tonnage, Foltz said.
Improvements at the port include four new super post-Panamax ship-to-shore cranes, 20 new rubber-tired gantry — or overhead — cranes to work the container stacks, $5.5 million in paving and other upgrades at Ocean Terminal and 20 new refrigerated container racks on Garden City Terminal.
Perhaps the best news was the announcement from Washington a day earlier that funding approval for the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project — contained in the Water Resources Development Act — had made it out of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee intact.
The bill now goes to the House for a vote, then back to the Senate.
Foltz is hoping for final passage before the end of the year.
“The final step before dredging can begin is for Congress to update the approved expenditure to the current estimate of $652 million,” Foltz said. “We’re looking forward to this final action by Congress to allow construction to move forward.”
He’s also looking forward to hosting Vice President Joe Biden on the terminal Monday.
Asked why he thought the vice president had selected out Savannah for a visit, Foltz said he hoped it was to emphasize the importance of the port and harbor deepening to the economic recovery of the nation.”
GPA by the NUMBERS
In Fiscal Year 2013, which ended June 30, the Georgia Ports Authority:
• Moved a record 27 million total tons, an increase of 651,250 tons or 2.4 percent
• Handled 637,000 auto and machinery units, an increase of 11.7 percent
• Moved 2.5 million tons of bulk cargo, up 62 percent
• Achieved more than 315, 000 intermodal container moves, up 19 percent
• Moved a total of 2.9 million 20-foot containers.