GPA ‘all-in’ on building best gateway for U.S. supply chains
Georgia Ports Authority leaders presented an update on the port’s $1.9 billion master plan and infrastructure investments at the Savannah State of the Port event on Oct. 12, 2023. The capacity crowd of 1,200 included state and local political leaders, GPA customers, maritime/logistics industry executives, investors, developers and supply chain partners, GPA said in a press release.
Several trends are shaping the future of GPA’s strategic market position. The population of the U.S. Southeast has grown by 9 percent since 2012, adding 6.5 million people and increasing consumer demand. The fastest growing states are Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee. This trend has also resulted in manufacturing shifting to the Southeast, with major brands establishing a presence.
Source shifting in Southeast Asia – as customers and ocean carriers respond to a “China plus one” sourcing trend – also favors U.S. East Coast delivery. Southeast Asia shipping routes to the U.S. East Coast via the Suez Canal are five days faster than U.S. West Coast routings.
The growth of India as the world’s largest population, with an expanding consumer class, represents new business opportunities for GPA customers; about a dozen weekly India services currently call GPA. Equally important, more global supply chains have shifted from the U.S. West Coast to the U.S. East Coast, with East Coast ports now handling 54 percent of the nation’s global trade.
Georgia Ports provides one of the nation’s best-connected port operations, with 35 weekly ocean carrier services, additional terminal capacity and land available in Georgia to attract new business. Inland connectivity is a GPA growth strategy, with 75 percent of the U.S. population within a 3- to 4-day rail trip from the Port of Savannah. GPA will focus on a mid-American arc ranging from Dallas to Chicago and Cincinnati, Ohio, as well as other cities within a 200-mile radius of Savannah such as Charlotte, Rocky Mount, N.C., Tampa, Orlando and Miami.
GPA handled volumes for FY2023 of 5.4 million TEU and forecasts 4-6 percent growth for the coming years. At the Port of Brunswick, Roll-on/Roll-off cargo hit a record in FY2023, leading GPA to an overall growth of 17.7 percent over the previous year, at 723,515 units.