South Jersey Port Corp. reports record cargo volume for 2021

Jim Walsh, Cherry Hill Courier-Post
·2 min read

CAMDEN - The South Jersey Port Corp., helped by an easing of pandemic restrictions on manufacturers, handled a record-breaking cargo volume of 4.6 million tons in 2021, officials say.

Last year’s volume was 6 percent higher than the previous record of 4.3 million tons in 2018.

“We’re expecting 2022 to be a very strong year that may top 2021,” Andy Saporito, the port operator’s executive director and CEO, said in a statement.

At the same time, increased demand from customers, particularly in the automotive and construction sectors, has created “import backlogs, space shortages and truck capacity shortages,” noted Brendan Dugan, the port firm’s director of business development.

He said the port operation has added workers and extended operating hours to cope with the upsurge at its four Delaware River terminals.

Port workers help unload cocoa beans from a freighter at the South Jersey Port Corp. in an undated file photo.
Port workers help unload cocoa beans from a freighter at the South Jersey Port Corp. in an undated file photo.

The SJPC noted “dramatic increases” for nearly all of its prime sectors — imports of steel, plywood, cocoa beans and gypsum, and exports of recycled metals and cement.

“The lone laggard, sand exports, is expected to increase as the national infrastructure plan is implemented,” it said in a statement.

Dugan also predicted gains from South Jersey’s role in the offshore wind industry.

He said EEW Group, a firm that plans to build monopiles in Paulsboro for offshore wind farms, could ultimately require 150,000 tons of imported steel annually.

Last year’s cargo volume was up by 54 percent from 2020, when SJPC moved 3 million tons of cargo. The 2020 figure was down sharply from about 4 million tons one year earlier.

The SJPC last year logged 960 ship days — the number of days a ship is loading or unloading — compared to 549 in 2020.

The port corporation owns and operates two shipping terminals in Camden, as well as individual terminals at ports in Paulsboro and Salem.

The quasi-state agency, which reports to the governor’s office through the state Treasury Department, seeks to boost employment and economic development in South Jersey.

Jim Walsh covers public safety, economic development and other beats for the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal.

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This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: South Jersey Port Corp. handles more cargo as pandemic restrictions ease