By Molly Parker
SCBIZ Daily Staff

CHARLESTON -- The S.C. State Ports Authority reported a substantial uptick in container traffic for the month of October, but officials there called it an “aberration” and didn’t know what or whom to credit for the increased business.

“I don’t want to suggest it’s more than what it is, which is one month,” spokesman Byron Miller said.

The Port of Charleston’s three container facilities handled 146,878 20-foot-long containers, or TEUs, in October, up about 6% from the same month last year and more than 16% from September.

Imports increased 4% from October 2007, from 61,404 to 63,890 TEUs, and were up 17% from September. That month, 54,680 containers were imported.

The number of empty containers exported jumped 19% from the same time last year to 21,174 TEUs, about what the SPA saw 1 1/2 years ago before the bottom fell out of the dollar.

Exported empties in October were up 109% compared with September, when 10,135 boxes were shipped back empty.

Loaded exports declined slightly, dropping 1% from October 2007 and falling 3% from September.

“Given the volume trends both here and across the country, it’s somewhat of a pleasant surprise,” SPA President and CEO Bernard Groseclose said.

“We certainly wish this were a trend, but, based on what our customers are telling us, it’s more likely an aberration.”

During the fiscal year that ended June 30, the SPA was hammered with a 10% decline in container volume, as its largest customer, Maersk Line, was hit by global economic woes. The Denmark shipping company is the world’s largest and accounts for almost a quarter of the SPA’s business.

This year, the nation’s container traffic is expected to register its lowest level since 2005, according to Global Insight and the National Retail Federation, which track monthly activity at the country’s largest seaports.

Despite October’s upsurge, container volume was still down 2.3% between July and October, when compared with the same time last year.
But port officials say Charleston is hurting less than others.

The Georgia Ports Authority, a chief rival, posted a 7.7% drop in container traffic in October compared with the year before, handling 230,253 TEUs. Between July and October, it processed 919,732 TEUs, a 5% drop compared with the previous year.

Georgia posted a 15% increase in container volume in the fiscal year ended June 30.

In a news release Wednesday, the Georgia Ports Authority said upgrades and new cranes will extend capacity at the Port of Savannah’s Garden City Terminal from 2.7 million to 6.5 million TEUs.

Comparatively, the Port of Charleston has capacity to handle 2.6 million TEUs, a number that might grow slightly with near-term improvements such as the opening of a 25-acre yard for refrigerated cargo on the Wando Welch Terminal in Mount Pleasant. Construction of a terminal on the former Navy base will add capacity of about 1.4 million TEUs.