WASHINGTON: Ongoing investments in infrastructure and the global trend of using bigger containerships to move freight will help the State Ports Authority set a record for cargo shipments during the coming fiscal year, the maritime agency’s top executive said Wednesday.
“We plan to grow in spite of a very tepid trade market,” said Jim Newsome, the SPA’s president and CEO. A budget approved by the SPA’s board of directors calls for 6 percent growth in the number of cargo containers moving through the Port of Charleston during the 2017 fiscal year, which starts July 1. That would equal 1.175 million cargo containers, topping the record of 1.134 million set in 2005. The 6 percent growth rate is triple the projected growth for U.S. ports as a whole during the coming year, and Newsome admits next year’s budget is “a very ambitious plan, but it’s one we are committed to.”
More of the shipping lines visiting Charleston are replacing vessels that hold 4,500 cargo boxes with bigger ships carrying 8,500 or more containers. That means more cargo will flow through Charleston even though shipping lines are not expected to increase their number of port calls. Newsome said he expects the port will receive its first ship carrying 14,000 cargo boxes at some point this year.
“We’re seeing most of the major ship systems being upsized,” Newsome said. Also, the SPA hopes to attract more business from additional warehouses and distribution centers opening here and throughout the state and by investing in more refrigerated cargo capacity and a second inland port in Dillon, where port customer Harbor Freight Tools has its distribution facility.
The SPA’s inland port in Greer, served by Norfolk Southern Railroad, is expected to top 100,000 train lifts — that is, moving a cargo box onto or off of a train — for the first time in fiscal 2017 — a 23 percent increase over fiscal 2016 totals. “Greer has exceeded our expectations, so we’re moving at a very rapid pace” on developing the Dillon site, Newsome said. The inland port in Dillon, which will be served by the CSX railroad, is included in the SPA’s capital budget for the coming year.
The budget also calls for a record $40 million in operating earnings — a figure Newsome has said the SPA must achieve to become more attractive to investors who will buy bonds to help the agency fund more than $1 billion in capital improvements through the end of this decade. The SPA plans to spend a record $250 million on capital projects in fiscal 2017, including improvements at its Wando Welch Terminal in Mount Pleasant and ongoing construction of the Hugh Leatherman Terminal at the former Navy Base in North Charleston.
“The year ahead is an exciting time for our port and state,” said Pat McKinney, chairman of the SPA’s board. The capital improvement projects and a plan to deepen Charleston Harbor to 52 feet by the end of this decade make the SPA “well-positioned to meet the evolving landscape of the U.S. port industry,” he said.
Meanwhile, in a separate meeting Wednesday, the Jasper Ocean Terminal’s board approved a roughly $5 million budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Ports authorities in South Carolina and Georgia will jointly operate and fund the container terminal, scheduled to open by 2025 as ports in those states are expected to near capacity.
Both states have spent years discussing, studying and debating the proposed $4.5 billion terminal, which would occupy 1,500 acres in Jasper County in the Palmetto State, not far from downtown Savannah. The two states are expected to split the $15-million cost of preparing for the required permits over the next three years.
Wednesday’s budget approval “shows a commitment by both states to the goals and objectives of the project, ensuring timely completion by 2025,” said David Posek, the board’s vice chairman. The board also chose Atkins North America, an engineering and project-management firm, to help the Army Corps of Engineers prepare scientific data for regulatory review.
