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The Port Of Charleston, SC has the deepest water in the southeastern United States and has done an impressive job to prepare itself for the Panama Canal expansion. The Charleston Port handles $65.1 billion in imports and exports and provides over 280,000 jobs in the state in the maritime, transportation, distribution and manufacturing industries. This yields an overall economic impact of $45 billion annually. The port has an eye for the future as it invests in new and existing terminals with a 10-year, $1.3 billion capital plan. A new terminal is in the works to be built by 2018 and will increase the total container capacity by 50 percent.

A recent analysis of the booming Charleston, SC port done by researchers at the Texas A & M University and the University of Illinois provides an impressive array of facts and figures as the Port of Charleston positions itself for the Panama Canal expansion.

  1. The Charleston port directly handles over 19.1 million tons of cargo each year.

  2. It is one of the busiest container ports along the Southeast and Gulf coasts with at least six vessels entering the harbor each day.

    The majority of vessels are made up of containers and break-bulk pier tons, while 3 percent of the vessels coming in the port are cruise ships.

  3. The port boasts the deepest water in the Southeast. 

    The ports five terminals are able to handle a variety of cargo including bulk, break-bulk and container. Following the 45-foot harbor deepening in 2012, the port experienced an 8 percent increase in the volume of pier containers in 2014.

  4. The port’s close proximity to regional forestry resources has resulted in many of the Southeast’s forestry products — lumber, paper and pulp—going through the port to other places in the world.

  5. The Port Authority provides services to 18 of the top 20 cargo container ship lines. 

    A total of 5,279 vessels docked at the point between 2011 and 2013.

  6. More than 20 million square feet of prime Class A industrial distribution centers will be developed in the Charleston port market over the next few years. 

    Speculative buildings in the 200,000 to 1.5 million square foot range are in development by private sector developers within an hour’s drive of the port. Companies in the industrial development business are actively pursuing projects that will result in 4 plus truck turns a day.

We at Caldwell commercial aim to stay abreast of up and coming commercial real estate trends in Charleston SC and the greater surrounding areas. We are committed to the values that have been ours from the beginning: customized services, and optimized investments. Please contact us today about our properties or services at info@caldwellcommercial.com.