Georgia Ports Authority experienced strong growth in February, led by a 30-percent jump in roll-on/roll-off cargo at Brunswick’s Colonel’s Island Terminal, GPA executive director Curtis Foltz told his board Monday.
The Port of Brunswick moved more than 50,000 auto and machinery units in February, an increase of more than 12,000 units over the same month last year, he said. For the first eight months of the fiscal year — which began July 1 — GPA has moved nearly 416,000 units, a 21 percent increase over the same period last year.
“Increased roll-on/roll-off cargo among the 21 car manufacturers we serve indicates an improving market for auto sales,” Foltz said, adding that the new business is part of the broader story of GPA’s impact on the national economy.
“Our exports of Ford, GM and Toyota, as well as luxury brands Mercedes and BMW, support car-making jobs across the southern U.S,” he said.
Overall cargo numbers were also good last month, with total tonnage up more than 147,000 tons — nearly 7 percent higher than the same month last year, Foltz reported.
Brunswick also experienced growth in bulk cargo, which reached more than 124,000 tons in February, an increase of 282 percent over February 2012. For the fiscal year to date, bulk tonnage in Brunswick has surpassed 800,000 tons, for a year-over-year growth rate of 550 percent.
The Port of Savannah saw a growth of 45,000 tons — or 2.3 percent — over February 2012, surpassing 2 million tons of cargo moved in February alone.
Only breakbulk was down, with decreased tonnage driven primarily by iron and steel imports, rubber imports and machinery import/exports at the Savannah Ocean Terminal facility.
Twenty-foot equivalent container units — or TEUs — also grew by 2.3 percent. Year-over-year, Savannah added more than 5,000 TEUs in February, for a total of 242,425. February performance was up 4.9 percent compared with January 2013.
Export loaded volumes remained dominant, representing loaded traffic compared to 44 percent for imports, Foltz said, adding that he expects exports to continue to lead until U.S. consumer personal spending recovers strongly.
Monthly container volumes continued to be negatively impacted by ongoing Internatioanl Longshoremen’s Association contract negotiations, which Foltz estimated caused some 4,000 TEUs to be diverted from Savannah in February.
A successful conclusion to ILA contract negotiations, coupled with what Foltz termed “a very modest economic recovery in the U.S. market” should cause volumes to recover somewhat in the final quarter — April through June — of the fiscal year, he said.
BY THE NUMBERS
Feb. 2013 Feb. 2012 Change
Total tonnage 2.27 million 2.12 million 6.9 percent
Brunswick ro/ro 50,622 units 38,823 units 30.4 percent
TEUs 242,425 237,076 2.3 percent
Breakbulk 176,636 tons 207,256 (14.8 percent)
ABOUT GPA
Georgia’s deepwater ports and inland barge terminals support more than 352,000 jobs throughout the state annually and contribute $18.5 billion in income, $66.9 billion in revenue and $2.5 billion in state and local taxes to Georgia’s economy. The Port of Savannah was the second busiest U.S. container port for the export of American goods by tonnage in FY2011. It also handled 8.7 percent of the U.S. containerized cargo volume and 12.5 percent of all U.S. containerized exports in FY2011.