Charleston, SC - In results announced at regular Board meeting, South Carolina's public seaport system continued above-market growth during fiscal year 2013.

Container business at the Port of Charleston was up nine percent in the fiscal year that ended June 30, with 1.56 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) handled during the past 12 months.

"The shipping industry trend toward mega-consortia will ultimately be an advantage for deepwater harbors, like Charleston," said Jim Newsome, president and CEO of the South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA), referring to the rise of new carrier consortia such as the G6 and, more recently, the P3. "While just under the aggressive target we set for the past fiscal year, Charleston's growth remains at more than double the average market growth for the nation's ports," he said.

June container figures were up four percent from the same month last year, reflecting the start of new or upsized container services in the port this summer. Charleston's two container facilities handled 125,257 TEUs last month.

Charleston's non-container facilities - Columbus Street, Union Pier and Veterans terminals - handled 1.12 million tons of bulk and breakbulk cargo in FY13, a 30 percent jump from the previous year. While breakbulk volumes grew around one percent, the biggest gains in these combined segments were associated with a large-scale, local paving project that has since concluded.

In the Port of Georgetown, business at the dock was off 10 percent, with 494,645 pier tons handled from July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013