SOUTH CAROLINA PORTS REPORT STRONG OCTOBER PERFORMANCE
South Carolina Ports (SC Ports) announced impressive performance for the month of October, with container volumes showing signs of recovery and even reaching new record highs. Despite a 9% year-over-year decrease in container volumes, mainly driven by a decline in empty volumes, which fell 27% yoy, loaded import and export twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) only experienced a marginal 1% decline. The highlight of the month was the achievement of the highest monthly container volume ever recorded at Wando Welch Terminal, with 116,745 pier containers handled, surpassing the previous record set in March 2021.
GPA INVESTS $262 MILLION TO UPGRADE BRUNSWICK’S RO/RO FACILITIES
The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) is investing $262 million to expand the Port of Brunswick into a larger gateway for roll-on/roll-off (ro/ro) cargo as carrier Wallenius Wilhelmsen deepens its own investment in the Southeast market with an auto-processing facility at the port’s Colonel Island Terminal. GPA’s expansion plans include a fourth berth at Colonel Island that’s already been permitted by the US Army Corps of Engineers and a new rail yard on the terminal’s south end. Construction on the fourth berth will begin next year and come online in late 2025 or early 2026 to meet the growing need.
SEABOARD MARINE INCLUDES WILMINGTON IN NEW CENTRAL AMERICA SERVICE Seaboard Marine is launching a direct service to the Port of Wilmington in North Carolina later this month that will expand its regional network between Central America and the US East Coast and offer another route to transport apparel and textiles, pork, poultry, and agricultural goods. Two container vessels will transport both dry and refrigerated containers on the weekly service starting Nov. 26. The service will depart from Santo Tomas de Castilla in Guatemala before calling San Salvador, El Salvador; Puerto Cortes, Honduras; Managua, Nicaragua; and Wilmington.
J.B. HUNT SHAKES UP MEXICO-US INTERMODAL MARKET WITH FERROMEX DEAL
J.B. Hunt Transport Services announced Monday it is dropping Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) as its partner on Mexican intermodal business destined for the US Midwest and West Coast in favor of Mexican railroad Ferromex, saying the move will cut transit times to Chicago by a day. The shift effective Jan. 1 means Ferromex trains will carry J. B. Hunt cross-border loads to Eagle Pass, TX, where they’ll interchange onto BNSF Railway for onward service to the Midwest and West Coast.
