The South Carolina Ports Authority broke ground Wednesday on the $700 million second phase of the Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal in North Charleston, a project that will add two new container berths and double the terminal’s annual throughput capacity — positioning the Port of Charleston to challenge for a spot among the top five container ports in the United States by 2030.
The groundbreaking at the terminal’s 280-acre site drew state and federal officials alongside private logistics industry representatives, a reflection of how central the port’s expansion has become to South Carolina’s economic development strategy.
“This is the single largest capital infrastructure investment in the history of South Carolina Ports,” said SC Ports CEO [Name]. “What we’re building here will serve this state’s economy for the next 50 years.”
What Phase Two Adds
The current Leatherman Terminal, which opened its first phase in 2021, has a capacity of approximately 700,000 twenty-foot equivalent units per year — a standard industry measure of container volume. Phase two will add capacity to handle an additional 700,000 TEUs annually, bringing the total terminal capacity to 1.4 million TEUs.
The expansion adds two deep-water berths capable of accommodating the largest container vessels in service, including ultra-large container ships with capacities exceeding 24,000 TEUs that cannot be accommodated at many East Coast ports. Charleston’s harbor depth of 52 feet is among the deepest on the East Coast.
Eight new container cranes — some of the largest in the Western Hemisphere — are on order, with delivery expected in 2027 ahead of the terminal’s phase two opening.
“Every consumer product moving through this port means jobs in South Carolina. This expansion doesn’t just serve shippers — it serves every community in this state.” — Governor [Name]
Economic Impact
The Port of Charleston supports an estimated 225,000 jobs statewide and contributes approximately $63 billion to the South Carolina economy annually, according to figures from the SC Ports Authority. The port’s growth has been a primary driver of industrial development in the I-26 corridor between Charleston and Columbia.
The Leatherman expansion is expected to create approximately 1,200 additional direct and indirect jobs in the North Charleston area over five years.
Competition and Context
Charleston competes directly with the Port of Savannah — the largest container port on the East Coast — for discretionary cargo from shippers serving the Southeast and Midwest. The two ports have traded growth milestones in recent years. Industry analysts say the Leatherman expansion directly addresses the capacity gap that has occasionally pushed shippers toward Savannah when Charleston berths were congested.
What’s Next
Phase two construction is expected to take approximately 36 months, with an anticipated opening in early 2029. Environmental monitoring, required as a condition of Army Corps of Engineers permits, will continue throughout construction.