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The Greer Inland Port continued its record-setting pace in rail moves and is 52 percent ahead of planned volumes, according to the S.C. Ports Authority.
The Inland Port handled 5,187 rail moves in March, achieving its highest volumes since the facility opening in October 2013, according to the S.C. Ports Authority. Fiscal year to date, the Inland Port has handled 40,313 rail moves.
The inland port has also become an additional marketing plum for the Port of Charleston as it boosts to its foreign customers container cargo can move more than 200 miles inland within 24 hours of arriving in Charleston.
Overall, the Ports Authority reported double-digit container volume gains in March, reporting 14.3 percent fiscal year to date growth of twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). In March SCPA handled 171,113 TEUs, in increase of 13.7 percent compared to 150,516 TEUs moved during the same month last year. Fiscal year to date, the port has handled nearly 1.4 million TEUs.
"March volumes reflect the end of a very strong quarter, and I'm confident the port will handle over 1 million boxes by the end of our fiscal year in June," said SC Ports Authority CEO Jim Newsome. "We're seeing broad-based growth across all sectors, particularly refrigerated cargo and automotive manufacturing. Discretionary cargo volumes are also up, with the growth of retail imports and agricultural exports reflected in a nearly 25 percent increase in rail moves last month."