Coastal GA News

The Port of Brunswick is witnessing a significant economic upswing with a 61% surge in auto and machinery volumes in Sept., driven by the Colonel's Island Terminal that handled 70,645 units of Roll-on/Roll-off cargo. The notable increase not only marks the arrival of new customers and services from Mexico but also indicates a significant recovery from the pandemic-induced shortage of computer chips.

"Auto, machinery volumes soaring at Port of Brunswick," reported Georgia Ports press release.

According to Georgia Ports CEO and President Griff Lynch, this boom is largely driven by consumer demand. "The automotive sector has been especially strong and consumer demand is driving this trend. Our investments in infrastructure capacity are well-timed to support the growing business in our Brunswick gateway," said Lynch.

To meet rising demand, the Port of Brunswick is initiating a $262 million expansion project. It includes constructing 640,000 square feet of auto and machinery processing space across five new buildings. Already completed is 350,000 square feet of near-dock warehousing, with an additional development plan for an extra 122 acres dedicated to Roll-on/Roll-off cargo storage space.

New customer acquisitions and high volumes from existing users are propelling growth at the port. Notably, shipping lines such as CMA-CGM launched a new short-sea service from Mexico to Brunswick in July while Gold Star shipping line plans to commence a similar Mexico-to-Brunswick route in Nov.

Meanwhile, Port of Savannah saw an 8% hike in container transportation via intermodal rail in Sept., moving 45,386 containers by rail alone; this constituted 20% of total cargo handled by the Georgia Ports Authority. Even with a drop in container volumes by 7.6% compared to last year, Sept. marked GPA's busiest non-pandemic Sept., nearly recording a movement of approximately 403,000 twenty-foot equivalent container units crossing GPA docks; this was a 9% increase compared to Sept. 2019.

According to a study by the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia, in fiscal year 2021, Georgia's deepwater ports substantially impacted the state's economy. They accounted for $140 billion in sales (12% of Georgia's total sales), $59 billion in state GDP (9% of Georgia's total GDP), $33 billion in income (6% of Georgia's total personal income), and supported 561,087 full- and part-time jobs (11% of Georgia's total employment). Furthermore, the ports contributed significantly to tax revenue with $7.4 billion in federal taxes, $2 billion in state taxes, and $1.8 billion in local taxes.