The Port of Savannah handled 495,782 twenty-foot equivalent container units last month, a record for the month of April and the Georgia Ports Authority’s third busiest month ever. GPA’s Garden City Terminal now handles nearly one out of every nine loaded containers crossing the nation’s docks.
“The phenomenal growth we have achieved has been made possible by the team effort of GPA and Gateway Terminals employees, the International Longshoremen’s Association, and our partners in trucking and rail,” said GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch. “Their hard work has ensured the free flow of cargo between major markets across the U.S. Southeast and the world.”
GPA’s containerized trade increased 6.2 percent, or 29,150 TEUs in April, compared to the same month a year ago. The growth is related in part to retailers replenishing depleted inventories and making early orders to ensure product availability. For the fiscal year to date, GPA has handled 4.75 million TEUs, an improvement of 8 percent or 344,260 TEUs year over year.
“Our long-running program of infrastructure expansion, coupled with the Authority’s ability as an owner-operator to speed up the schedule of development, has allowed the Port of Savannah to adapt to heightened container volumes,” said GPA Board Chairman Joel Wooten. “On-terminal and inland capacity improvements enable cargo to flow across our docks without congestion.”
Savannah was recently ranked the top U.S. container port by loaded export volume, handling 1.38 million TEUs in Calendar Year 2021.