Charleston container port records largest ever December volume

Houston — Container volumes at the port of Charleston, South Carolina, had their strongest December total on record as the flow of US imports showed no signs of slowing at the end of 2020.

Charleston handled 209,606 twenty-foot equivalent units in December 2020, up from 207,066 TEUs in November and an 11.6% increase from December 2019, the South Carolina Ports Authority said on Jan. 11.

Loaded imports in December grew 14.4% year on year while loaded exports rose 8.6% on the same basis. Automobile volumes were especially strong in December, with 21,228 vehicles handled, an increase of 29.2% from the same month last year.

Total volumes at the port in 2020 were 2.31 million TEUs, down 5.3% from 2019. Although import volumes ended the year strong, throughput at the port was sharply curtailed in the March-August period as the coronavirus pandemic disrupted global trade.

Greater volumes are expected in 2021 with the opening of the Hugh K. Leatherman terminal in March. That project and the deepening of Charleston harbor will allow the ports to handle four 14,000-TEUs ships simultaneously, or any single ship as large as 19,000 TEUs.