Port of Savannah Tops Cargo Record

In the 2019 calendar year Port of Savannah moved 4.6 million twenty-foot equivalent container units (TEU).

Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) Executive Director Griff Lynch said this is an increase of nearly 250,000 TEU (5.6%) compared to the previous year.

In roll-on/roll-off trade, GPA handled 657,685 units of cars, trucks and tractors in 2019, an increase of 12,167 units, or 2%.

Ocean Terminal picked up two new customers in 2019 - GM and Volvo - with both car makers exporting vehicles to Australia and New Zealand via Savannah. Volvo also began exporting cars to South American markets via Brunswick.

Total tons crossing all GPA terminals reached 38.5 million, up from 36.9 million tons in 2018, an increase of 4.3 percent. Lynch credited steady volumes in breakbulk cargo, combined with growth in tonnage for both bulk and containerized goods.

Highlights of the year included a burst of new cargo handled via the Appalachian Regional Port, totaling approximately 36,000 TEU, and the announcement of two new resin-handling facilities near Savannah, which are expected to increase export totals by around 90,000 TEU per year.

Lynch said the GPA is building the infrastructure necessary to take on new business while maintaining the free flow of cargo. He said the infrastructure plan will double annual rail capacity at the Port of Savannah to 2 million TEU, expand berth capacity to handle up to six 14,000-TEU vessels by 2026, and develop another 400 acres on Colonel's Island, enough to nearly double the autoport's annual capacity from 800,000 vehicles to 1.5 million per year.