Port of Savannah announces record freight volumes for January
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — The Port of Savannah added another month to its streak of record freight volumes amid a surge that has forced U.S. seaports to scramble to keep up with demand.
The Georgia Ports Authority reported that nearly 480,000 import and export container units passed through the Savannah docks last month. This is a 4% increase compared to January 2021, when freight volumes were already abnormally high.
Business has boomed at US seaports as the economy rebounds from the coronavirus pandemic, retailers rush to keep inventory stocked and online shopping continues to grow.
The Port Authority reported last month that Savannah saw a 20% increase in shipping containers for all of 2021, when it handled a record total of 5.6 million container units.
Port officials said Savannah saw a record number of containers for the 12 months of last year.
To ease last fall’s traffic jams that kept ships waiting at sea and stacking containers ashore, the port authority added workers and new equipment. The agency has also set up indoor sites to temporarily store cargo and free up space at the Savannah Container Terminal.
The Port of Savannah is the fourth-busiest U.S. seaport for cargo in shipping containers, giant metal boxes used to transport goods ranging from consumer electronics to frozen chickens.