Posts Tagged “Port of Savannah”
As part of Georgia Ports’ expansion plans, with more than $1.8 billion in improvements underway, the organization has announced the construction of the new Savannah Transload Facility.
The new facility will be located just one mile away from Garden City Terminal, the largest single-operator container facility in North America.
This 300,000-square-foot transload warehouse will open in July 2023 and will be operated by NFI Industries, a distribution solutions leader.
The authority has indicated that initially, the new facility will be able to handle more than 400 containers a day, totaling more than 150,000 containers a year.
“Cargo moving through the Savannah Transload Facility will start its inland trek to stores and distribution centers faster, saving customers time,” said Georgia Ports in the announcement.
During a video announcement of the new facility, Griff Lynch, Executive director of Georgia Ports said: “If we are going to grow big successfully, the entire supply needs to be ramped up together, and that’s what this building is all about.”
Earlier this year, Georgia Ports Authorities had announced a $170 million investment for 55 hybrid-engine rubber-tired gantry cranes to outfit the Port of Savannah’s Ocean Terminal, as it is redeveloped into an all-container facility.
- New facility is strategically located near the Port of Savannah and will allow Lineage to process up to 1.4 million pounds of produce per day
- Facility brings Lineage’s total investment in Chatham County to over $100 million and expands the Company’s growing footprint in Georgia
PORT WENTWORTH, Ga. –Lineage Logistics, Lone of the leading temperature-controlled industrial REITs and integrated solutions providers worldwide, today celebrated the grand opening of its newest facility in Port Wentworth, Georgia.
Savannah Fresh-Port Wentworth is strategically located near the Port of Savannah, the largest single-terminal container facility of its kind in North America and the third busiest container gateway in the U.S.
The 220,000-square-foot facility offers cross-docking services for products to enter and exit the facility on the same day if needed, reducing storage time, creating cost efficiencies, and ensuring consumers receive fresh produce faster. The facility has 23 inbound and outbound lanes that can process more than 40 trucks daily, moving up to 1.4 million pounds of produce per day.
“Today, the demand for port-centric temperature-controlled storage has never been greater and our Fresh solution offerings at Lineage have never been more robust. Savannah Fresh-Port Wentworth will allow us to expand our Fresh offering to new and existing customers and also provides the needed capacity to improve market conditions,” said Jim Henderson, Vice President of Global Sales and Business Development at Lineage.
“The opening of this new facility is a critical step for Lineage as we continuously work to reimagine the world’s food supply chain. We are honored to further our long-standing partnership with Georgia Ports Authority and look forward to building our presence in the state of Georgia, an essential hub for trade and innovation.”
For the past two years, Lineage has worked closely with the Savannah Economic Development Authority, Georgia Ports Authority, and the city of Port Wentworth to construct the Savannah Fresh-Port Wentworth facility in addition to its port-adjacent facility on Tremont Road in Savannah. The Savannah Fresh-Port Wentworth project resulted in a $78 million investment alone that created 65 new jobs, bringing Lineage’s total economic investment in Chatham County to over $100 million. To date, Lineage’s footprint in Georgia spans over 3 million sq. ft.
Savannah Fresh-Port Wentworth was designed to address the overwhelming influx in imports of fresh produce to ports in the Mid-Atlantic that lack the space to keep up with the demand. With proximity to the Port of Savannah, the new facility will enable Lineage to deliver larger quantities of fresh produce more efficiently to serve customers across the Southeast.
“With increasing demand for fresh produce capacity in Savannah, this new, state of the art facility is a welcome addition,” said Griff Lynch, Executive Director of the Georgia Ports Authority. “Lineage Logistics’ suite of services, such as cold-retreatment and onsite CBP inspections, will save time, help prevent loss and, ultimately, bring fresh food to market faster.”
Leaders from Lineage, business partners from the state of Georgia, community leaders from the city of Port Wentworth, and leadership from Georgia Ports Authority attended the facility’s grand opening.
About Lineage Logistics
Lineage is one of the leading temperature-controlled industrial REITs and integrated solutions providers worldwide. It has a global network of over 400 strategically located facilities totaling over 2 billion cubic feet of capacity which spans 20 countries across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. Lineage has industry-leading expertise in end-to-end logistical solutions, an unrivaled real estate network, and develops and deploys innovative technology. This helps increase distribution efficiency, advance sustainability, minimize supply chain waste, and most importantly, as a Visionary Partner of Feeding America, helps feed the world. In recognition of the Company’s leading innovations and sustainability initiatives, Lineage was listed as No. 3 in the 2022 CNBC Disruptor 50 list, named a Deloitte US Best Managed Company in 2022, the No. 1 Data Science company, and 23rd overall on Fast Company’s 2019 list of The World’s Most Innovative Companies, in addition to being included on Fortune’s Change the World list in 2020. (www.lineagelogistics.com)
Griff Lynch, Georgia Ports Authority’s (GPA) executive director has unveiled plans to expand the port’s container capacity by 60 percent. The enhancements will bring the Port of Savannah’s annual capacity from 6 million twenty-foot equivalent container units to 9.5 million TEUs by 2025.
“Our expansion is being matched by incredible growth in both warehouse space and workforce,” Lynch said. “The public and private investment that we’re seeing, as well as the number of people being drawn to the business, make Savannah the hottest market in the country for transportation and logistics.”
Projects now under way will add 1.7 million TEUs of annual capacity in four months. GPA’s Peak Capacity project has already added 400,000 TEUs in container handling space to the Garden City Terminal and will make room for another 820,000 TEUs by June. In the same month, a new container yard just upriver will add another 500,000 TEUs of capacity. Separately, the Garden City Terminal West project will add up to 1 million TEUs in phases by 2024.
“GPA’s role facilitating commerce – even in difficult times – is key to Georgia’s long-term economic success, and I am proud of the can-do spirit that sets our ports apart from the rest of the nation,” said Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. “The Ports of Savannah and Brunswick together play a major role in positioning Georgia as the go-to state for economic development, and I am thankful for all the hardworking men and women who have hunkered down to move Georgia forward over the past year.”
During Lynch’s presentation, he showed how Savannah has become a national leader in supply chain solutions and effectively eliminated its backlog, while accommodating 18 consecutive months of growth. In Calendar Year 2021 alone, the GPA moved a record 5.6 million TEUs, for an unprecedented expansion of nearly a million TEUs, or 20 percent, compared to 2020.
In his comments before a capacity crowd, Lynch addressed a series of key logistics solutions, including the role six pop-up container yards – which add 500,000 TEUs of annual container space – are playing as a supply chain relief valve. He also spoke to the nation’s trucker shortage, and how Savannah has reversed that trend by registering 80 new drivers a week to serve Garden City Terminal, or a total of 1,200 new drivers and 370 new trucking companies just since November. Lynch also detailed GPA’s workforce development effort, the YES+ program. Now, in addition to hiring new high school graduates to work in maintenance and container operations, GPA has broadened the program to include career opportunities for young workers in other departments.
“Higher demand for our services is the reason we have expedited major expansions at the Port of Savannah,” said GPA Board Chairman Joel Wooten. “Georgia’s growing manufacturing, distribution and retail sectors will mean additional cargo through the Port of Savannah, driving the need for increased container handling capacity.”
The Savannah market added 6.5 million square feet of industrial space in 2021, for a total of 84 million, according to Colliers International. Savannah led the nation in terms of net absorption of overall inventory, so the vacancy rate remains at 2.3 percent. Another 17 million square feet are now under construction, lifting the market beyond 100 million square feet to better accommodate heightened cargo volumes.
Lynch thanked the 1,200 guests for coming to the first live State of the Port since 2019, and congratulated them on persevering through the previous, challenging year. The unprecedented level of trade crossing GPA’s docks is expected to continue well into 2022, Lynch said.
To ensure Savannah’s ability to handle these volumes, GPA is super-sizing its Berth 1, increasing on-dock capacity by 25 percent. In the spring of 2023, the expanded berth will allow Savannah to simultaneously serve four 16,000-TEU vessels as well as three additional ships. The renovations will add an estimated 1.5 million TEUs per year of berth capacity.
Another game changer for the GPA is the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project, which will come online in March. The deeper river channel will allow 16,000+ TEU vessels to take on heavier loads and transit the river with greater scheduling flexibility.
“This project has been more than 20 years in the making,” Lynch said. “Through it all, there has been strong support across several administrations, from the General Assembly and our congressional delegation. A special debt of gratitude goes to the late Senator Johnny Isakson, who shepherded our harbor deepening efforts through the federal process.”
Lineage Logistics, LLC, the world’s largest and most innovative temperature-controlled industrial REIT and logistics solutions provider, today announced the strategic expansion of its facility network near the major port in Savannah, GA.
“Savannah is the fastest growing port and largest single container terminal in North America. Lineage’s new facilities in this high-demand location will provide additional capacity and value-added services in a critical market for our customers,” said Greg Lehmkuhl, Lineage’s President and CEO. “We are constantly looking for ways to maximize and further streamline Lineage’s total supply chain, and our meaningful growth in Savannah will offer customers increased access to faster, more reliable distribution opportunities to markets across the Southeast.”
Lineage recenrly announced its plans to break ground on a next-generation facility near the Port of Savannah to handle fresh produce and perishable imports. The Company will invest $62 million in the new building, which, upon completion, will create 65 new jobs in Chatham County’s Port Wentworth, in addition to nearly 100 jobs required for the project’s construction. Operating as a cross-dock, in which product enters one side of the building and exits the other side via truck on the same day, the facility will also provide fumigation, packaging and other value-added services for customers to move fresh product efficiently to markets across the Southeast. Construction is expected to be complete by the end of 2022.
In addition, Lineage announced the Phase I opening of its temperature-controlled warehouse on Tremont Road adjacent to the Port of Savannah. Serving both imported and exported products like poultry, the facility features a 19,000-square-foot blast freezer, a boxing room and customs brokerage capabilities to provide streamlined processing in and out of the port. Once fully operational, the facility will employ up to 100 Georgia residents.
Combined, the newly announced facilities expand Lineage’s presence in the market by more than 500,000 square feet of capacity. In total, the Company’s network will span four facilities in Savannah with twelve facilities across the State of Georgia.
About Lineage Logistics
Lineage Logistics is the world’s largest temperature-controlled industrial REIT and logistics solutions provider. It has a global network of over 400 strategically located facilities totaling over 2 billion cubic feet of capacity which spans 19 countries across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.
By Derek Robinson, ALC Savannah
The Port of Savannah is continually breaking record after record, year after year, in both the import and export of goods, throughout the United States and worldwide.
While the United States is known primarily as an importer of goods, the Port of Savannah is known as the top exporting port for containerized agricultural goods. During FY2019, Savannah took that spot, accounting for 15.8% of exports and continues to grow every year. In the first five months of 2020, the port had already handled 593,195 TEU’s and ate up a 12.2% market share, once again exporting more containers than any port in the United States.
2021 certainly brought the phrase “supply chain” into daily conversations at the dinner table, water cooler, and evening news programs. The Port of Savannah has put a few things into play, in order to speed up all facets of the port and move agriculture goods in and out quicker. One of the biggest things to happen was the creation of “pop-up yards” that can handle an additional 500,000 containers throughout the year.
This improvement alone allows drivers to make 70 mile turns instead of 400 mile turns, which increases both daily driver numbers and the ability of drivers to get more home time every day. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act has slated numerous projects to the port that will only continue to add efficiencies to keep the Port of Savannah in that #1 spot for generations to come!
We at the Allen Lund Company move countless loads of produce from the Savannah area daily. Many loads come as an import brought through the port, or from a Georgia farmer working tirelessly to bring you peaches, melons, or pecans.
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Derek Robinson is a business development specialist in the Savannah office and has been with the Allen Lund Company since 2015. Robinson attended Savannah Technical College, specializing in Aviation Structural Mechanics.
East-West routes have been added to Georgia’s Port of Savannah for its chilled produce business.
The port serves as a gateway for perishable products after joining the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Southeast In-Transit Cold Treatment Pilot Program, according to a news release. Before, the port received produce from Chile, Peru, Uruguay and Argentina that had been cold treated. Now the port serves all of South America, with the ability to import from Spain, Morocco and Italy.
“This is an exciting development that opens Savannah as a new option for growers around the world to reach the U.S. Southeast with greater speed and efficiency,” Georgia Ports Authority Executive Director Griff Lynch said in the release. “Georgia’s central location means shorter overland routes to inland markets, allowing time-sensitive cargo to reach customers faster, fresher and at lower cost.”
Proximity to large cities like Atlanta and Memphis sets the port up as a hub for refrigerated produce. Ships call on the port 35 times a week.
Earlier this year, Americold Realty Trust, which owns and operates temperature-controlled facilities and infrastructure, acquired PortFresh Holdings, which serves the fresh produce industry primarily through the Port of Savannah.
“We’ve got kiwis on the water, and we are getting our first few containers in from Morocco now,” Ken Burke, vice president of client relations at PortFresh, said in the release. “We’re gearing up to handle very heavy business starting with the summer citrus program from Chile and Peru, and for next season, the Spanish and Moroccan produce will really start to come online.”
Savannah can handle time-sensitive items like asparagus, previously shipped as air cargo, but now delivered in containers to the port.
“Not only can we now handle produce that has undergone cold treatment while in transit, Savannah also has a local facility certified to perform re-treatment should that prove necessary,” Cliff Pyron, Georgia Ports Authority chief commercial officer.
A variety of fruit comes through the port, including blueberries, mangoes, apples, pineapples, grapes, bananas and avocados, according to the release.
PortFresh has 100,000 square feet for chilled produce storage, and Americold plans to add an additional facility with 37,000 pallet positions.
By Americold Realty Trust
ATLANTA- Americold Realty Trust (NYSE: COLD), (the “Company” or “Americold”), the world’s largest owner and operator of temperature-controlled facilities and infrastructure, today announced that the Company has acquired privately-held PortFresh Holdings, LLC (“PortFresh”), a leading temperature-controlled operator servicing fresh produce trade primarily through the Port of Savannah. In connection with its acquisition of PortFresh, Americold plans to build a new 15 million cubic foot state-of-the-art cold storage facility on adjacent land owned by PortFresh. The total cost of the acquisition, including approximately 163 acres of contiguous land, is approximately $35 million. The cost of the planned new build is expected to be between $55 to $65 million. Americold funded the acquisition with cash on hand and expects to fund the development from available capital resources.
“The Port of Savannah is one of the fastest growing ports in the United States and has seen increased traffic of temperature-controlled trade. With this investment, Americold is fulfilling our customers’ requests to expand into this growing market, which provides an efficient and cost-effective solution to meet their import and export needs. We believe this development project represents a significant long term growth opportunity for the Company, as we continue to grow our scale and develop our partnership with the Port of Savannah,” said Fred Boehler, President and Chief Executive Officer of Americold Realty Trust.
The planned new facility will feature 37,000 pallet positions, advanced blast freezing capabilities, and space and infrastructure to support refrigerated-containerized trade. Americold expects to begin construction on the new facility in the first half of 2019, with the opening expected to be in the first quarter of 2020.
The Port of Savannah imported 1.8 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of containerized cargo in 2017, a 10.6% increase over 2016, making it the nation’s fourth-largest port, as reported by the 2018 U.S. Ports Report from Descartes Datamyne. The port’s Southern US location, ocean carrier network and access to transportation channels, including to growing markets in South America and Europe, reduces transportation time as compared to Northeastern ports, which require additional trucking and transport. The Port of Savannah continues to expand and has a stated strategy to double its storage capacity with its partners in the next 10 years.
“The Georgia Ports Authority is pleased to welcome Americold to the Savannah market,” said GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch. “This announcement represents yet another expansion of Savannah’s position as a hub for the handling of cold and chilled cargoes, and complements the port’s continued on-terminal development of refrigerated cargo infrastructure.”
Brian Kastick, PortFresh’s Founder and CEO, has joined Americold with this acquisition and will help to grow the Company’s fresh produce business initiatives. “I am delighted to join the Americold platform at this exciting time. PortFresh has developed the import market for temperature controlled logistics in the Port of Savannah. I believe that Americold’s brand, platform and operational expertise will enhance PortFresh’s capabilities to serve both our existing and new customers,” stated Kastick.
The returns for the development project and acquisition are consistent with the Company’s stated return expectations for such projects upon stabilization.
About Americold
Americold is the world’s largest owner and operator of temperature-controlled warehouses. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Americold owns and operates 156 temperature-controlled warehouses (as of September 30, 2018), with approximately 928 million refrigerated cubic feet of storage, in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Argentina. Americold’s facilities are an integral component of the supply chain connecting food producers, processors, distributors and retailers to consumers.
The Port of Savannah will soon see its container capacity increase with the addition of four cranes to help move those containers. The port is the largest single container facility in the U.S.
The four Neo-Panamax cranes arrived in late November, bringing the total number of the cranes at the facility to 30. Six more cranes are scheduled to arrive in 2020, and when all are operational, the port will be able to move 1,300 containers an hour, according to a news release.
“(As) we reflect on all the success we’ve enjoyed, we also look forward to the new era of prosperity these cranes will help usher in,” Georgia Ports Authority board chairman Jimmy Allgood said in the release. “Our considerable investments today ensure Georgia’s ports reputation for excellence.”
Upgrades to the Mason Mega Rail Terminal will double the Port of Savannah’s annual rail capacity to 1 million container lifts, expanding the port’s access to the Midwest.
The Neo-Panamax cranes can lift containers 152 feet above the dock and the booms reach out 192 feet. Each crane can lift 72 tons. The cranes operate over nine berth spaces.
All of the new cranes, a $47-million investment, will be operational by April.
Not only has The Port of Savannah recently 
received its first-ever shipment of table grapes, it was the port’s first fresh produce, coordinated by Alpharetta, Ga.-based AGRO Merchants Group, which operates cold storage facilities in the U.S., Europe and Latin America.
While this first time happening may be modest, it could very well mean increased loading opportunities for truckers hauling fresh fruits and vegetables out of the Southeastern U.S.
Fresh Peruvian table grapes were shipped by Divine Flavor, a grower-owned distribution partner of the Mexican company Grupo Alta, according to a news release.
Nordic Cold Storage, a member of AGRO Merchants Group, managed the local handling and logistics of the shipment.
AGRO said it was the first shipment of fresh produce imported through the port and stored in a chilled facility in Savannah.
“We are very excited to work with the AGRO Merchants team on our Peruvian grape program in Savannah,” Divine Flavor’s chief operating officer, Jose Antonio Martinez, said in the release. “Their superb customer service has been evident since day one and their reputation as an expert third-party service provider in the perishable industry is well-founded.”
The Peruvian grapes will be delivered to retailers in the Southeast and Midwest, according to the release, and the proximity of the Port of Savannah to Divine Flavor’s customers will save up to five days in delivery.
In response to the rising market demand for fresh produce to be handled through the growing Savannah seaport, AGRO converted part of the nearly 400,000-square-foot Nordic frozen facility into chilled refrigerated space, an interim solution while the company completes construction of a new facility in the Port of Savannah, according to the release.
The Port of Savannah is only 250 miles from the major distribution hub in the Southeast – Atlanta – and also provides easy access to markets throughout the Southeastern United States.
Within a few weeks PortFresh Logistics, a Georgia-based company, plans to open a 100,000 square-foot cold treatment facility dedicated to perishable cargoes. These items will be imported through the Port of Savannah. The facility will strengthen Savannah in its role as a new entry point for South American produce.
Brian Kastick, CEO of PortFresh Logistics, said the company has been working for more than two years to meet the need for additional chilled cargo infrastructure in Savannah.
“Currently, more than 90 percent of imported fruits and vegetables entering the U.S. East Coast arrive via Northeast ports,” Kastick said. “That means cargo headed to the Southeast must be trucked down, adding time and expense to the logistics supply chain.”
Thanks to a new U.S. Department of Agriculture program allowing South American citrus fruit, grapes, blueberries and other produce items to enter via the Port of Savannah, substantial cost savings are now available to customers across the Southeast and beyond.
“Using the Port of Savannah offers significant time and money savings per container for areas throughout the Southeast region,” Kastick said.
PortFresh’s state-of-the-art cold storage facility, on 20 acres of a 182-acre site, is specifically designed to allow multiple climate zones. Engineered to maintain cold chain integrity, the facility will ensure delivery of the freshest and safest produce from the port to the customer.
Chris Logan, GPA senior director of Trade Development for beneficial cargo owner sales said “Citrus, avocados, blueberries and other products are already moving through the Port of Savannah, and we hope to grow that portfolio.”
The facility will handle both import and export cargo.