Archives: News Entries

Charleston, SC - To a record crowd of more than 550 maritime business leaders and elected officials, the leader of the South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA) highlighted progress on Charleston harbor deepening, a re-established competitive position and key accomplishments of the past year, all while looking to the future.

In his third State-of-the-Port Address in Charleston, SCPA President and CEO Jim Newsome repeated his belief in the future success of the port while charging the local crowd with the task at hand - building the port’s cargo business.

“We have no room to rest on our laurels, and we face a multi-year, intense effort to re-establish our port as an attractive global brand and revitalize our volumes,” he said.

A major part of Charleston’s future growth story, he shared, is in big ships. To support the expected surge of post-Panamax ship traffic in coming years, a post-45-foot deepening project is already underway in Charleston.

“We are investing $1.3 billion dollars of the next 10 years in our port facilities, an all-in bet on the future of big ships with no margin for error,” he stated, referring to the SCPA’s aggressive capital plan.

Following remarks by U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham and Gov. Nikki Haley and an introduction by Charleston Mayor Joe Riley, Newsome reflected on the progress of major initiatives, including a $23-million improvement project to transform Columbus Street Terminal into a premier ro-ro and breakbulk facility. The terminal now handles several large, in-state customers, including BMW exports and energy equipment for General Electric and - starting next month - Westinghouse.

Earlier on Tuesday the SCPA Board approved a new seven-year employment contract with option to extend for Newsome, who joined the SCPA at the helm in 2009. Newsome described the vote of confidence as “very humbling” and one that creates a continuity of senior leadership in a port with many vital projects underway.

Despite the work to be done, Newsome reiterated his optimism for the future, given the many advantages of the Port of Charleston as well as the talent of the local maritime community.

“More than ever, I can say with confidence what I have said before - the best years of the Port of Charleston are ahead of us and not behind us.”

Please click here for Newsome’s entire State-of-the-Port Address.

Charleston, SC - Breakbulk volume at South Carolina’s seaports in Charleston and Georgetown continued its uptick, with a 121 percent climb in the fiscal year to date over 2010 levels.

The Port of Charleston’s non-container segment rose 58 percent, with 66,540 tons handled in October versus 42,163 tons during the same month in 2010. Breakbulk tonnage for the fiscal year, which began July 1, is up more than 74 percent.

Tonnage in the Port of Georgetown more than tripled year-over-year. Georgetown handled 48,807 tons last month, a significant climb over 13,512 tons in October 2010. Volume in FY12 grew more than four-fold in Georgetown.

Container volume was off six percent last month on a slower peak season for containerized goods. The Port of Charleston handled 113,650 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in October, down from 121,229 TEUs in 2010. September’s container volume increase of nearly 18 percent was more an outlier than an indicator of an upward trend.

“While some lingering questions remain about economic strength in the near term, our ports’ fundamentals and prospects for growth are very strong,” said South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA) President and CEO Jim Newsome, referring to enhanced facilities, inland infrastructure and expanding non-container business segments, which are often the building blocks of future cargo growth. The SCPA is implementing a 10-year, $1.3-billion capital plan for new and existing facilities to support future business demand.

At its November meeting, the SCPA Board approved projects totaling $988,000 in equipment and infrastructure upgrades, including four container handler masts for the Wando Welch Terminal as well as improved rail leads serving Veterans Terminal.

The Board also signed off on two economic development agreements related to South Carolina’s growing tire industry. Last month, Continental Tire announced plans for a new, $500-million plant in Sumter, SC that will employ up to 1,700 workers. Bridgestone Corporation recently broke ground on its 1.5 million square foot manufacturing plant in Aiken, SC. The $1.2-billion investment is expected to create 850 new jobs.

Charleston, SC - Westinghouse Electric Company has selected the Port of Charleston for a multi-year deal to handle oversize project cargo in support of a major power plant expansion by South Carolina Electric & Gas Company (SCE&G) near Columbia, SC.

“The Port of Charleston appreciates Westinghouse Electric Company’s confidence in our capabilities and welcomes this new business,” said Jim Newsome, president and CEO of the South Carolina Ports Authority. “These kinds of project moves are labor-intensive, supporting jobs across the state’s maritime and transportation industries. It’s great new business for the port.”

“From a logistics perspective, this is a large, complex and important project,” said Carl Rossi, director of Global Logistics for Westinghouse. “The South Carolina Ports Authority has approached it very professionally from its inception and has assisted Westinghouse in building a realistic project plan to move our cargo quickly and efficiently to the construction site.”

The project involves about 24,000 tons of equipment that will be deployed at V.C. Summer Units 2 and 3 in Jenkinsville, SC.

Shipments are scheduled to begin arriving at the Port of Charleston’s Columbus Street Terminal next month and continue for more than four years during construction. At the port, approximately 30 ships will deliver machinery and equipment - weighing up to 700 tons - for delivery by rail and truck to the site approximately 30 miles northwest of Columbia.

A recently completed $23-million improvement project at the 135-acre Columbus Street Terminal enhanced the facility’s mix of on-dock rail, storage and heavy-lift capabilities. The terminal handles a variety of non-container cargoes, including autos, other rolling stock, breakbulk cargoes, heavy-lift and project moves, including power generation equipment.

Westinghouse Electric Company, a group company of Toshiba Corporation (TKY:6502), is the world's pioneering nuclear energy company and is a leading supplier of nuclear plant products and technologies to utilities throughout the world.

About the South Carolina Ports Authority
The South Carolina State Ports Authority, established by the state's General Assembly in 1942, owns and operates public seaport facilities in Charleston and Georgetown, handling international commerce valued at more than $50 billion annually while receiving no direct taxpayer subsidy.  An economic development engine for the state, port operations facilitate 260,800 jobs across South Carolina and nearly $45 billion in economic activity each year.  For more information, visit www.scspa.com.

Charleston, SC - In testimony submitted to a Congressional committee that oversees both maritime and inland transportation, the head of the South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA) said the nation must make sound decisions on modernizing the nation’s seaports.

On Wednesday, the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee heard from industry professionals regarding the future of the nation’s seaports and their economic benefits for the country.

SCPA President and CEO Jim Newsome outlined the demand for a national port strategy. He encouraged the committee to adopt language proposed by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to include additional funding provisions for ongoing port studies and to empower the Corps of Engineers to evaluate port-related infrastructure projects, such as harbor deepening, and make funding priorities.

“Deepening projects should be viewed no differently than investment decisions in the private sector that have limited capital budgets or funds,” Newsome stated in the testimony. “They should be prioritized on rigorous cost/benefit criteria that take into account the most benefit to a region for the least cost, most expedient timeframe, and most environmental compatibility for our nation.”  

He also highlighted the trends and opportunities related to U.S. East Coast ports, including the expansion of the Panama Canal, the deployment of even larger ships to utilize the expanded Canal, and the related national need for a post-Panamax capable port to handle expanding exports from the commodity-rich Southeast region.

Newsome’s testimony is available in its entirety below:

To the esteemed members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, I thank you for the opportunity to submit written testimony for your consideration. My name is James I. Newsome III, and I am the CEO of the South Carolina Ports Authority in Charleston, South Carolina. Given the nature of my responsibilities, my comments will focus mainly on US East Coast ports and the significant issues they are facing.  My comments are based on my experience in my current role, as well as my previous role as the North American CEO of one of the major global container shipping lines where I accrued over 20 years of experience in the industry.

To appropriately address this subject, I must first identify the major trade realities facing East Coast ports. These are: 

The expansion of the Panama Canal in 2014 will increase the number of large container ships traveling between Asia and the US East Coast. In fact, the Panama Canal Authority is investing $5.25 billion in the belief that the US East Coast route from Asia has further growth potential. Today, only 28 percent of the cargo from Asia travels to the US East Coast via the Panama Canal. Meanwhile, 70 percent of the US population lives east of the Mississippi River. Import cargo from Asia moves to where people live. 

Global logistics is a cost game, and we share the belief that the expansion of the Panama Canal will lead to the further growth of cargo share to the US East Coast, in addition to normal market growth. Ocean carriers are already responding to the expansion and the general fact that costs can be reduced through larger units of production by ordering larger ships. The amount and size of vessels ordered in the last two years have exceeded any expectation held in industry circles. Most notably, Maersk Line, the world’s largest container shipping company, ordered 20 18,000 TEU ships, including an option for 10 more. Competing lines responded by ordering a number of ships over 10,000 TEUs, in many cases replacing previous orders for 8,000 TEU ships to achieve further scale economies. 

In our customer visits, we have learned that lines who have not yet acted are, almost without exception, planning orders for 13,000 to 16,000 TEU ships. While the largest ships may well serve the Asia-Europe trade, such deployment of new, large ships will drive a cascading effect which, in our view, will mean that 8,000 to10,000 TEU ships will become the workhorses of the East Coast within a few years. We already see 8,000 to 9,000 TEU ships today in Charleston. These come and go via the Suez Canal. The ships have a draft (the amount of depth below the water line) of 48 feet when fully loaded with export cargo, which we can only currently accommodate two hours a day. With the requisite under-keel clearance, this translates into a harbor requirement of 50 to 52 feet to handle such ships without restriction. 

The ports of New York, Baltimore, Norfolk and Miami are either at or are authorized to achieve 50-feet harbors today. South Atlantic ports are regional ports and at least one South Atlantic port needs to be authorized to handle 8,000 to 10,000 TEU ships without tidal restriction. This is important as the Panama Canal works on an appointment system and container ships need to leave the last harbor prior to Panama Canal passage (typically a South Atlantic port on the East Coast) without restriction in order to make their appointment.

It is generally accepted that export cargo will be the new growth area for ports. Our national economy is forecasted to experience modest growth in the foreseeable future, while emerging markets, especially China and Vietnam, will see much faster growth through the emergence of a burgeoning middle class with an appetite for “rising standard of living” products, such as US agriculture. The Obama administration has promoted doubling US exports over the next five years as a way to drive our country’s economic growth.  

This is a proper strategy given the relatively small share of GDP (less than 15 percent) exported by the United States. Export cargo is significantly heavier than import cargo, as it is predominantly raw materials and basic finished products. This is particularly the case in the Southeast, which has one of the most robust manufacturing areas in the country and is responsible for a large amount of export cargo to emerging markets. Heavy cargo further exacerbates the deadweight dilemma for shipping lines and the harbor depth dilemma for ports as this heavy cargo requires deeper harbor depth to fill ships. This is not so much of an issue today as the Panama Canal is restricted to 40 feet of draft, which is less than most East Coast ports; however, it will be a huge issue when the Panama Canal achieves 50 feet or more of draft capability in 2014.  

No South Atlantic port will be able to achieve a Post 45-Ft. harbor in time for the Panama Canal expansion and there are seriously different fundamentals in the capability and cost-effectiveness of South Atlantic ports to accomplish this depth. Any ship calling the East Coast in the future must, almost by definition, leave a South Atlantic load port as the last port prior to the Panama Canal passage given the rich export base in the Southeast. This underscores the need for deeper harbors at these ports in order to ensure that ships headed back to the Panama Canal are at full capacity.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, every port wants a deep water harbor; however, it is not in the national interest to make this a reality due to the scarce resources at hand for the federal government. 

Deepening projects should be viewed no differently than investment decisions in the private sector that have limited capital budgets or funds. They should be prioritized on rigorous cost/benefit criteria that take into account the most benefit to a region for the least cost, most expedient timeframe, and most environmental compatibility for our nation.  

Unlike West Coast ports, where ships may call at maximum one or two ports, ships serving East Coast ports will call a North Atlantic port, as well as a Mid-Atlantic port and a South Atlantic port on an Asia-US East Coast itinerary. Therefore, one South Atlantic port must quickly achieve the same or even slightly greater depth parameters as ports in the North Atlantic and Mid-Atlantic to allow shipping lines and their cargo customers to maximize the economic advantage of full ships. Choices have to be made along with a commitment to a fast track deepening process by the US Army Corps of Engineers, which allows the realization of these capabilities. It should not take longer to deepen a harbor in our country than it does to accomplish a major civil works project like the Panama Canal expansion. The US Army Corps of Engineers is prepared to move faster if empowered and, in fact, directed to develop clear priorities as to regional interests.

I would like to thank the committee for the opportunity to submit our viewpoint and am available to answer any questions.

Additionally, I ask that Committee members carefully consider supporting the following provisions in the Senate Energy & Water appropriations bill described below, as the first step toward addressing the modernization of ports and creating a national port vision:

And supporting report language:
Additional Funding for Ongoing Work - The Committee recommendation includes additional funds above the budget request to continue ongoing projects and activities. The Committee is concerned that the administration criteria for navigation maintenance, does not allow small, remote, or subsistence harbors to properly compete for scarce navigation maintenance funds. The Committee urges the Corps to revise the criteria used for determining which navigation maintenance projects are funded to account for the economic impact that these projects provide to local and regional economies. The Committee recommends that priority in allocating these funds should be towards completing ongoing work maintaining harbors and shipping channels, particularly where there is a US Coast Guard presence, or that will enhance national, regional, or local economic development, and promote job growth and international competitiveness or for critical backlog maintenance activities.

Report language: National Port Planning
Institute for Water Resources - This institute performs studies and analyses, and develops planning techniques for the management and development of the Nation's water resources. Within the funds provided, the Institute for Water Resources is directed to submit to the Senate Appropriations Committee within 180 days of enactment of this act, a vision on how the Nation should address the critical need for port and inland waterway modernization to accommodate the post-Panamax vessels that currently transit the Suez Canal and will soon take advantage of the Panama Canal Expansion. Factors for consideration within the vision include the costs associated with deepening and widening deep-draft harbors; the ability of the waterways and ports to enhance the Nation's export initiatives benefitting the agricultural and manufacturing sectors; the current and projected population trends that distinguish regional ports and ports which are immediately adjacent to large population centers; and the environmental impacts resulting from the modernization of inland waterways and deep-draft ports.

Charleston, SC - Shipping volume through South Carolina ports increased across all business segments in fiscal year 2011.

Container volume through the Port of Charleston rose 8.3 percent in the fiscal year that ended June 30, with 1.38 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) handled.

South Carolina’s non-container cargo segment increased 32.3 percent, demonstrating success in steps to diversify the state’s port business. Breakbulk tons in Charleston and Georgetown totaled 991,705 tons for the year, with growth in vehicles, project cargo, heavy lift, bulk and traditional breakbulk cargoes.

“These results show the confidence our customers place in the Ports of Charleston and Georgetown, and it means jobs at a time we could really use them,” said Jim Newsome, president & CEO of the South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA).

At a regular monthly Board meeting, Newsome highlighted other strategic accomplishments for the year, including:

The accelerated deployment of container ships too big for the Panama Canal, including four a week already in Charleston, underscores the national need for a true post-Panamax harbor in the Southeast region.

In July, Charleston hosted its first 9,200-TEU ship and routinely handles large ships actually drafting up to 48 feet.

“Charleston’s deep water capability, combined with our capable facilities, talented people and aggressive capital program, will continue to drive growth and investment in this state and across the region,” said Newsome.