The South Carolina Ports Authority reported a nearly five percent increase in container volume since its fiscal year began in July.

SCPA moved 145,092 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) in January. Fiscal year-to-date volumes reached 1.12 million TEUs last month, an increase from 1.07 million TEUs handled during the same period last year.

Pier container volume, or boxes handled, totaled 81,993 containers in January. Pier container volume is up 3.1 percent fiscal year over year, with 633,167 containers handled to date.

“January volumes were slightly down, which we expected due to strong comparisons against last year’s performance as well as weakness overseas,” said Jim Newsome, SCPA president and CEO. “Our volumes will likely remain fairly flat during the next several months until the spring, which is traditionally a strong season for SCPA.”

Fiscal year-to-date breakbulk volume reached 727,360 tons in January, remaining slightly ahead of plan. Charleston’s non-containerized cargo volumes were particularly strong, and with 68,499 tons moved in January, Charleston breakbulk is nearly 33 percent above planned fiscal year-to-date levels.

The inland port reached 7,457 rail moves in January, a significant increase from the facility’s 5,068 moves in January 2015. Fiscal year to date, inland port volumes are up 63 percent compared to last fiscal year, with 49,588 rail moves completed since July.

The SCPA board approved a contract for the investigation and excavation of historical resources on the Yellow House Creek Borrow Site, a location from which soil fill material will be mined for construction of the Leatherman Terminal.

Two construction contracts were approved for the Wando Welch Terminal, including ground improvement for the expansion of the refrigerated container service area and annual berth maintenance dredging.