South Carolina Ports is trying to turn a weaker fiscal year into a broader base of cargo. At Tuesday’s State of the Port address in Charleston, President and CEO Micah Mallace described nearly 160,000 containers of new business, a near-port transload facility for a global retailer and expenses cut by 20%. It was his second address since taking over the agency in October 2025, after a year of shrinking cargo volumes and tighter budgets.
Mallace said his team cut expenses by 20% since he took the helm, according to WCIV. He presented the reductions alongside new business: South Carolina Ports has reportedly secured nearly 160,000 containers across retail, consumer goods, manufacturing and export commodities, and a global retailer has built a near-port transload facility. Mallace said the expense cuts are not, on their own, a growth plan.
The station reported that national retail brands and major importers are increasingly choosing Charleston as a Southeast gateway for discretionary cargo lanes. Mallace credited operational changes, customer service and other solutions with helping secure the new business, and said the port has capacity and market fundamentals to grow through the current downturn.
A Year of Belt-Tightening Before the Turnaround Talk
The South Carolina Ports Authority reported a 4.6% drop in the number of cargo containers moving through its terminals in fiscal 2026 compared with the prior year, according to the SC Daily Gazette. Revenue was about $401 million, roughly 5% below the authority’s original budget. Operating costs fell to $378.7 million, down 10% from the original budget and 5.3% from the year before.
The authority consolidated container operations at its Wando and North Charleston terminals earlier this year. SC Ports said the move reflected industry headwinds, an uncertain trade forecast and tempered volumes, and confirmed plans to pause operations at Leatherman Terminal starting August 1. The same report notes that SC Ports has traditionally relied heavily on manufacturing cargo, particularly automotive freight, limiting its market share compared with Southeast rivals with larger consumer-goods bases.
Diversifying Beyond Manufacturing's Shadow
Mallace said the port is seeking to broaden its cargo mix by attracting more retail distribution centers and cold-chain cargo while continuing to serve manufacturing customers. He pointed to the state’s available land and warehouses, labor pool and port operations as assets that could support retail supply chains.
Mallace also described a shift toward using key performance indicators and data to guide decisions as volumes have weakened, with safety, customer service and reliability among the priorities. He credited that approach with helping secure the new cargo commitments.
Infrastructure Projects Aimed at Future Capacity
The authority’s infrastructure plans include resuming operations at Leatherman Terminal and bringing the rail-served Navy Base Intermodal Facility online; no date has been set for either milestone. Work has begun on the rail-served North Charleston Terminal expansion. Mallace said that project could create short-term revenue opportunities while adding container capacity over the long term.
Mallace acknowledged that overall port volumes remain down, while arguing that the long lead times in the business mean current commitments and secured volumes could lift future throughput as projects come online. The authority has also pointed to inland rail activity: Inland Port Greer recorded 17,818 rail moves in September 2025, up 18% year over year and its strongest September on record, while Inland Port Dillon recorded 4,888 moves that month, up 275% from a year earlier.
Rail projects and records in context
South Carolina Ports describes the Navy Base Intermodal Facility as under construction, with 35,000 feet of processing tracks, six electric rail-mounted gantry cranes and planned capacity of 1 million rail lifts per year. That is a design capacity, not current operating volume, according to the South Carolina Ports Authority. The Navy Base facility is distinct from the rail-served North Charleston Terminal expansion, where work has begun, and from Leatherman Terminal, where operations are set to pause.
Annual inland figures add another measure of activity but are not seaport container totals: South Carolina Ports reported that Greer recorded 205,523 rail moves in FY2025, nearly 10% more than the prior year, and that Dillon handled 48,761 rail containers in calendar 2025, up 33% and a record. For a separate benchmark, the Georgia Ports Authority reported Savannah moved 5.70 million TEUs in FY2025, its second-highest fiscal year on record. These figures cover different measures and periods; they do not provide a five-year, like-for-like comparison with Charleston’s FY2026 decline.
Whether those inland gains and the newly signed retail business are enough to offset a year of declining container volumes remains to be seen. For now, Mallace's second State of the Port address laid out a bet that cost discipline paired with a broader customer base — not manufacturing alone — will carry Charleston's port through the current downturn.
