Port Charleston

The Port of Charleston is The Next Big Deal in Distribution - view.
Why This Market is Hot - view.
The Port of Charleston is Expanding - view.
Why We’re Known as The Pros of Productivity - view.

The Port of Charleston area is experiencing a dramatic push in private-sector, industrial spec building. Projects involving more than 20,000,000sf of spec, class A industrial space are in development within 30 miles of the port. Approximately 1,000,000sf has come on the market recently and already been absorbed.

Within a 60-mile range of the port, two large logistics centers are being planned totaling more than 5,000 acres near the intersection of I-26 and I-95, a key crossroad for freight traffic.

The Interstate Highway corridors beyond the 60-mile radius are also primed for distribution and manufacturing investment offering multiple spec building projects.

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The Port of Charleston is a hot distribution/real estate market because of the convergence of several key industrial trends:

The Southeast is the fastest-growing consumption zone in the U.S., and the Port of Charleston offers the fastest, most reliable access to that zone. The U.S. Census projects the population of Southeastern states to grow 43% between 2000 and 2030, inspiring investment in hard assets to serve the zone.

The heart of the Southeast consumption zone is the I-85 corridor from Raleigh, N.C. to Atlanta, Ga. The Port of Charleston is closer to that market than any other major seaport.

The Port of Charleston’s industry-leading productivity and supply-chain reliability is a perfect fit with the demands of consumer goods importers.

Increased costs and decreased reliability have driven importers to break away from the traditional model of using West Coast ports as the preferred port of entry for Asian consumer goods. All-water routes to the East Coast (via Panama and Suez) are in demand. Charleston is perfectly positioned for this trend.

Private-sector developers are seizing the opportunity by speculatively building class A industrial projects that dramatically reduce the speed to market and financial risk for prospects looking for East Coast distribution facilities close to a seaport.

The Port of Charleston market area offers distribution prospects the choice of sites with 4-8 truck turns per day minimize inbound delivery to the DC and sites further inland that minimize outbound delivery from the DC.

As ocean carriers seek economies of scale in their operations, the ability to work ships too large to transit the current Panama Canal is a key factor. With the deepest water in the Southeast, the Port of Charleston is one of only three East Coast ports able to work fully-loaded post-Panamax ships without tidal restrictions. Charleston routinely works 6,700teu ships and has worked vessels of up to 8,000teu.

The weak U.S. dollar is driving renewed interest in Foreign Direct Investment. Because South Carolina is a right-to-work state with terrific access to global markets via the Port of Charleston, manufacturing and assembly operations are finding profitable opportunities to invest here.

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The Port of Charleston is expanding its ability to handle more freight than ever before by streamlining of operations, constructing new container yards within existing terminals, and by building new facilities.

Under its current operating style and structure, the Port of Charleston has space for nearly 1,000,000teu of new business. With modifications to operational policies and terminal layouts, the number goes up significantly. For example, each day of reduced average dwell time of containers on dock adds approximately 14% to terminal capacity. Another example would be to change the machinery in the container yard to allow narrower rows and more dense stacking of containers.

The Port of Charleston recently added 25 acres of new container yard to the Wando Welch Terminal for handling of refrigerated containers. The former reefer area has been reclassified for loaded dry container stacks. This move has added more than 1,000 container slots to the port. Additional acreage remains within the Wando Welch Terminal for future development.

The port has received permits for the construction of a new marine terminal in Charleston Harbor at the former Charleston Naval Base. Site preparation work is ongoing at the site. When complete, the terminal will deliver 280 acres, three post-Panamax ship berths, and about 1,400,000teu of handling capability. The 171-acre first phase is expected in late 2016.

The South Carolina State Ports Authority is also involved in a bi-state commission with the State of Georgia to develop a new marine terminal on the Savannah River in Jasper County. The 1,500-acre site, jointly owned by South Carolina and Georgia’s port authorities, is currently a dredge disposal area approximately half-way between the open sea and Savannah’s Garden City Terminal. Stay tuned for developments related to this project.

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The Port of Charleston has a well-established brand of service based on a defined advantage in port productivity. Simply put, Charleston turns ships and cargo faster than any other port in North America. Our dockside crane operators work ships at an average of 41 moves per hour, per crane. The U.S. average is south of 30. Trucker turn times average 20 minutes from gate in to gate out. And truckers report our average queue time outside the gate is 9 minutes or less. These times can total hours at competing ports. Time is money. Reliability is money. The Port of Charleston has earned its reputation for industry-leading productivity that translates to bottom-line benefits for clients.

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