The Georgia Ports Authority on Tuesday said the volume of containers that moved through Savannah dipped 6.2% in November compared to the same month a year ago, as shipping demand has declined amid a cooling of the global economy.
The ports authority said nearly 465,000 TEUs, or 20-foot equivalent units, transited through the Savannah port last month. Though that’s down from a year ago, the volume of boxes passing through the Savannah River channel remains above pre-pandemic levels.
Savannah is one of the nation’s fastest-growing and busiest seaports. Georgia’s inland and coastal ports are vital cogs in the state’s economy, and key indicators of global economic health. The volume of cargo flowing through Savannah and Brunswick signals consumer demand for imports and the appetite abroad for Georgia-grown or manufactured products.
Ports across the U.S. have grappled with delays in loading and unloading boxes, exacerbated by COVID-19. Savannah fared better than its West Coast rivals, picking up business from shippers frustrated by longer waits to dock in ports like Los Angeles and Long Beach.
Shipping experts have expected container volumes to decline amid high inflation, global economic instability and companies’ adjusting their supply chains. Weather, including Tropical Storm Nicole, also affected November figures, the ports authority said.
“Container trade at U.S. ports is returning to a more sustainable growth pattern, which is a positive development for the logistics industry,” Griff Lynch, executive director of the Georgia Ports Authority, said in a news release.
The decreased traffic has helped the container port reduce a backlog of vessels waiting to transit the Savannah River, the ports authority said in a news release. Some 30 ships were at anchor at the beginning of November, a number the Savannah port has cut to 17 as of Tuesday.
Savannah reported nearly 10% growth in container volumes during the quarter that ended in September. But officials had signaled those volumes would ebb amid high inflation and concerns about recession.
Still, the ports authority is planning for continued long-term container shipping growth in Savannah. Earlier this month, the authority board approved a plan to renovate docks at its Ocean Terminal in Savannah to handle more container traffic, creating flexibility to grow over the next eight to 10 years.
The complex project will shift “breakbulk” cargo, or freight such as heavy machinery and certain automotive products that do not fit into standard container boxes, to expanded facilities in Brunswick. That will free Ocean Terminal to handle as many as two large container ships at a time, serving as a relief valve for the Garden City Terminal, which is also undergoing an expansion.
“While we are planning for a moderation in the container trade, we expect volumes to remain strong, though shy of the historic highs of the past year,” authority Chairman Joel Wooten said in the release. “Announcements from automakers and other manufacturers coming to Georgia, as well as an array of their suppliers, will mean healthy increases in trade over the long term.”
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