Container cargo volumes grew solidly throughout 2015 in North American seaports with the Port of Miami having the biggest cargo increase (15%), followed by the Port of Savannah (11.7%), the Port of New York/New Jersey (10.4%) and the Port of Charleston (10.1%), according to The Post and Courier.

The port sector in the US has been experiencing something of different fortunes than other areas of the world, with the West Coast throwing off the congestion pains it witnessed in early 2015 to end the year accepting a call from the largest ship to ever berth in the US.

Both Long Beach and Los Angeles ports had positive years, while many East Coast ports are ready and waiting for the Panama Canal expansion completion which could see larger capacities coming to their ports.

In terms of the global market, analyst Alphaliner recently predicted another slow year for ports in 2016, with growth in the economy forecasted at 1.6% in 2016, a 0.5% rise on the 1.1% growth recorded in 2015.

Jim Newsome, President and CEO of the South Carolina Ports Authority said: “I think we’ll see a trend back up in the next couple of months. And, hopefully, March will be significantly stronger.”

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