SPI Insights

Georgia – Board members at the Georgia Ports Authority approved $205 million in capital improvement projects on March 29 that will increase the Port of Savannah’s container capacity by 20 percent.

A terminal enhancement dubbed the Peak Capacity project will establish 2,100 new grounded container slots. The project will add 650,000 twenty-foot equivalent (TEU) container units of annual container yard capacity in two phases, with the first opening in September.

In addition, the board approved a Berth 1 renovation that will increase berth capacity by an estimated 1 million TEUs per year by June 2023. This will bring Garden City Terminal’s new total to 6 Million TEUs of annual berth capacity.

The authority has received a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to develop a fourth berth for roll-on/roll-off cargo at Colonel’s Island Terminal in Brunswick. The project, which is in the engineering phase, will provide increased speed and flexibility in auto processing.

An upswing in containerized cargo that began in fall 2020 has seen significant growth in categories such as machinery, appliances, and electronics as well as hardware and houseware, food, furniture, apparel, and textiles.