The Port of Savannah handled more than 478,000 twenty-foot equivalent container units in May, a nearly 42 percent increase compared to last year. It was the second busiest month in the history of Georgia’s largest port and the 10th consecutive month of positive year-over-year growth.
“Georgia’s deepwater ports are thriving, and that’s good news for a wide range of industries,” said Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. “Thanks to conservative leadership and the fact that we never really shut down Georgia businesses during the pandemic, the Peach State’s economy is rebounding quickly. From logistics to manufacturing and retail, the ripple effect of booming trade at the ports of Savannah and Brunswick means business opportunity and job growth for hardworking Georgians.”
After months of delayed or completely disrupted supply chains, things are getting back to normal and that means catching up on orders. Lots of them. During an economic growth period, orders would be up anyway but the drawdowns on inventory that happened during the supply chain disruption means orders in many sectors are doubly up. And keep in mind, a majority of the cargo moved by the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) is headed for destinations across the country, potentially places that may be seeing even more robust growth or may be in different cycles of inventory recovery.
“We believe managing the new cargo that’s coming our way benefits the economy, jumpstarts economic development and sustains long-term growth,” said GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch. “We are encouraged by the Board’s support as we advance our strategic plan to ensure we absorb this growth more effectively in the future.”
GPA is increasing their workforce, hiring 150 new employees since January. GPA notes that many of these employees are directly handling cargo, being trained on jockey trucks – a fun little truck that moves containers around shipyards but is much smaller than a regular tractor-trailer, yard cranes and other cargo equipment.
Certain items have seen a particular boom as supply chains recover. The much-discussed chip shortage that impacted cars (because all our cars need computers now) is easing a bit and loads of new cars are landing in Savannah. Growth in May was 347 percent, a total of nearly 63,000 units. “We expect strong growth to continue in autos and machinery as manufacturers return to normal operations,” Lynch said.
The City of Savannah and its metro area are seeing strong economic growth thanks to the port. There are nearly 500,000 jobs statewide supported by the ports and inland barge terminals – the most in the Savannah area, contributing $29 billion in income and more than $120 billion in revenue to the state’s economy. The Port of Savannah alone handled 9.3 percent of total U.S. containerized cargo volume and 10.5 percent of all containerized exports in 2020.
