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11/18/2019
Rail News: Intermodal
Georgia Ports Authority posts record container volume for October
The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) logged 428,400 20-foot equivalent (TEU) container units in October, up 3.5 percent over October 2018 and a record for the month.
The strong month gave the Port of Savannah a fiscal year-to-date total of 1.6 million TEUs, up 90,600, or 6 percent, GPA officials said in a press release.
"We have seen three years of incredible volume growth, and the economy of the U.S. Southeast remains a powerhouse," said GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch. "Georgia's market share continues to expand as new commodities come online and customers in new regions rely on our services."
In October, A&R Logistics selected Savannah for its new global export hub for plastic resins. The 600,000 square-foot packaging facility will be operational by late 2020, with an option to expand up to 1 million square feet. A&R Logistics' Export Division will also be headquartered in Savannah to support global supply chain development for the chemical industry, port authority officials said.
And in April, Plastic Express announced it will invest $172 million in two resin packaging warehouses in Savannah, each measuring 1 million square feet.
"To accommodate future growth, GPA has and continues to make significant infrastructure investments that are allowing the GPA to take on new business, create jobs and economic development across Georgia and beyond," said GPA Chairman Will McKnight.
For example, all nine berths at Garden City Terminal are now back online after berths 4, 5 and 6 were strengthened to accommodate larger cranes and vessels. The port can now serve three 14,000-TEU and four other Post-Panamax ships simultaneously.
Savannah's ship-to-shore crane fleet will expand by six to 36 in the first half of Calendar Year 2020. And the Mason Mega Rail Terminal, the nation's largest on-port rail facility, is more than 50 percent completed.
CSX and Norfolk Southern Railway serve the GPA.