Leigh Miller for GlobalAtlanta
The Georgia Ports Authority’s board of directors has approved a $82.6 million capital improvement plan to upgrade the Savannah and Brunswick ports to handle the increased flows of imports and exports forecast for the coming year.
The ports authority expects a balance of imports and exports for the 2007 fiscal year, which begins on July 1, according to Robert Morris, GPA’s director of external affairs.
“We are forecasting balanced trade again this year, with 52 percent imports and 48 percent loaded exports, which are non-empty containers. This is the best trade balance any major port in America has, and we expect it to continue in the coming year,” Mr. Morris told GlobalAtlanta.
He said that the ports expect increased interest among China, India and Eastern Europe for Georgia forest products and kaolin clay, and the Port of Savannah is expecting more containers coming from Asia when the Target Stores Inc. and Ikea International A/S distribution centers open within the next year.
He added that the Port of Brunswick will be finishing a project to deepen the channel feet to allow for increased grain exports from the Midwest to be shipped to China, as well as facilitate increased exports of Mercedes-Benz U.S. International Inc. vehicles from Alabama.
To facilitate these trade flows, the new capital improvement plan includes $30.6 million for four new cranes that can load and unload cargo from the world’s largest vessels. It also includes $21 million for 15 specialized cranes that can load trucks from denser and higher stacks of containers, allowing for the storage of more containers per acre on ports authority lots, Mr. Morris explained.
Another $21 million is to be dedicated to additional paving for the Savannah port’s container yard and the demolition of a warehouse to make room for more containers.
At Colonel’s Island Terminal at the Brunswick port, $2.5 million is to be allocated to develop an additional 90 acres of land for the port’s use, and $1 million is to be dedicated to building an additional grain storage facility that will increase the port’s grain capacity by 10 percent, Mr. Morris said.
The GPA board also approved the fiscal 2007 financial plan that calls for 54 new positions to be created to help accommodate a projected 9.1 percent growth in container volume. The new hires will include drivers and crane operators, bringing GPA’s total employment to more than 900.
The first phase of the new Container Berth 8 in the Savannah port, which came online in April, is projected to increase container capacity by more than 20 percent. An additional $19.1 million in bonds was appropriated in the fiscal 2007 budget for the completion of the berth and for the Brunswick Harbor deepening project.
For more information, contact Mr. Morris at (912) 964-3855 or rmorris@gaports.com. Visit www.gaports.com.
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