Atlanta-Georgia Port Authority confirmed a rare drop in activity last month.
The Port of Savannah handled 464,883 Twenty Foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) containerized shipments in November, down 6.2% from the same month last year.
However, Savannah’s figures show a 28% increase when measured over three years. This growth rate far exceeds the agency’s pre-pandemic expansion, which averaged 4% to 5% annually.
“Container trade in U.S. ports is returning to a more sustainable growth pattern, which is a positive development for the logistics industry,” said Griff Lynch, executive director of the agency.
“In addition to the addition of over 1 million TEUs of annual capacity, a slight drop in demand is expected to speed up vessel services as we work to bring new larger vessel berths online at Garden City Terminal in July. means that
The impact of inflation and changes in consumer spending patterns are partly responsible for the decline in manufacturing and subsequent container demand. The weather also played a role in his November decline.
The Savannah River Channel was closed to its largest vessels for more than three days last month due to bad weather, including Tropical Storm Nicole.
“While we plan to ease container trades, we expect volumes to remain strong, although not as close to last year’s historic highs,” said Authority Board Chairman Joel Wooten. “The series of announcements from automakers and other manufacturers and their suppliers coming to Georgia means a healthy increase in trade over the long term.”
Lynch said the current slowdown has allowed the Port of Savannah to reduce the number of container ships waiting at the port to 17, a 43% decrease from early November when 30 ships were docked. did. The authorities plan to clear the backlog by early next month.