Latest news with #GeorgiaPorts
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tariffs and the effect on housing market
SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) — Tariffs have the potential of affecting the price of wide variety of things, including homes. As of now interest rates for home buyers are the lowest, we've seen them since October of 2024 with a 1% decrease. The average mortgage loan from lenders is around 6.5%, but if you're planning on building a home, the upfront cost could be a lot more. 'Rising tariffs, has triggered volatility in the stock market,' Misty Stenmark, a home buying specialist with Heather Murphy Real Estate group, said. 'So that means that investors are going to shift their money into bonds as a safer option. The increased demand for bonds drives down yields and that ultimately results in lower interest rates, which is what we're seeing now. We have the lowest interest rates currently that we've seen since October of last year.' Tariffs against countries around the world will start to take place on April 5 and April 9. The good news for home buyers is the decrease in interest rates from lenders. 'Lower interest rates and higher inventory means now's a great time to buy,' Stenmark said. 'If you're in a position to buy. So even with some economic uncertainty, savannah remains resilient. We're fortunate and that we have major growth in manufacturing and logistics, and that ultimately keeps our housing market steady.' If you're custom building a home, Misty said materials such as Canadian softwood lumber, steel, aluminum and equipment components for HVAC and other appliances could be impacted. She said most builders are charging around $300 dollars per square foot, an increase from the low 200s they were seeing. 'Lately, custom building is a little more expensive than buying a home that already exists,' Stenmark said. Misty said it's very unlikely that we will have a major housing market crash like in 2008 due to the demand here in Savannah. 'Do not expect a housing market like the 2008,' Stenmark said. 'You know, ultimately the demand is there. And with demand that's going to drive up the prices, and so we don't expect prices to decline to the extent that some people do. In fact, they've risen in on average of four and a half percent, and so the experts expect that to continue.' We reached out to the Georgia Ports to see if they had anything to say about the incoming tariffs and this was their statement: 'We are closely monitoring the ongoing tariff discussions and related developments. Yesterday, we released our March container numbers, which showed record volumes in the port of Savannah. Next week, we will release our port of Brunswick numbers for the month of March.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Georgia port tops US ro-ro gateways
The Port of Brunswick, Georgia, was the top U.S. port for vehicles in 2024. Brunswick achieved a record year, totaling 901,912 units of autos and heavy equipment, up 13.3% and 160% y/y, respectively. Georgia Ports President and Chief Executive Griff Lynch was quoted in a release as saying at the Brunswick State of the Port event that Colonel's Island Terminal has become the nation's busiest port for autos and heavy equipment, handling more than 2 million tons of roll-on/roll-off cargo in 2024. Brunswick also was the top port for ro-ro exports at 600,000 tons, the port said, citing USATradeonline authority completed $262 million worth of improvements at Brunswick in 2024, adding new warehousing and processing space, as well as 122 acres of ro-ro storage. Construction has started on a new rail yard on Colonel's Island, while a fourth berth for ro-ro vessels is in the engineering phase. Brunswick also benefited from thousands of vehicle shipments diverted from the Port of Baltimore after the Key Bridge disaster shut down ro-ro handling in April. Baltimore, until this year the leading ro-ro gateway, saw vehicle shipments decline by 11% in 2024. The Georgia port continues to scale up, and a new rail yard on the south side of Colonel's Island Terminal will increase the capacity to export vehicles arriving by rail. Improvements to the existing Myd Harris Yard will also bring rail switching onto the terminal.'Our growth comes as auto manufacturers seek to increase their business through Georgia,' Lynch said. 'This project will expand capacity, improve our ability to serve inland factories, and increase the safety of rail operations, both on- and off-terminal, and lessen our community impact with our port neighbors.' Lynch said the added capacity will extend Brunswick's service area, because moving cargo from farther-to-reach inland factories to the Georgia coast is more cost-effective by rail than truck. Phase 1 of the new rail yard will increase the port's annual rail capacity from approximately 150,000 autos to more than 340,000 by mid-2025. Phase 2 will boost capacity to 590,000 units, greater than three times the current capacity. More than 90% of vehicles moving through Brunswick by rail are U.S.-manufactured exports. Separately, construction on a fourth ro-ro berth is in the planning stages and expected to start in summer 2025. The new berth should be complete in 2027 and will more efficiently accommodate vessels carrying 10,800-plus car equivalent units (CEUs). A 20-year agreement signed with Oslo, Norway-based vehicle carrier Wallenius Wilhelmsen in April 2024 consolidates the company's Georgia logistics operations at the Port of Brunswick. 'At its expanded Brunswick facility, WW is not only handling ro-ro processing, but also order fulfillment for heavy equipment, configuring the machinery for the end user before delivery,' Lynch said. The authority's master plan calls for all ro-ro cargo to be located in Brunswick, and container trade in said market forces favor the continued expansion of Brunswick trade. Two major factors include the rise of manufacturing and a growing population in the U.S. Southeast. Auto exports grew by 9% in 2024, and imports at Colonel's Island were up by 20% y/y. Lynch said Brunswick anticipates handling larger vessels, carrying a greater number of autos and heavy equipment. The typical ro-ro ship today has a capacity of 4,000 to 8,000 CEUs. Carriers are expected to bring 10,800-CEU vessels to Brunswick in the next two to three years. 'Similar to the dynamic of growing container ships, these larger ro-ro vessels are expected to call on fewer ports and handle greater influxes of units during each visit,' he said. 'The 1,700-acre Colonel's Island Terminal is uniquely qualified to handle these larger transactions thanks to our scale of operations and efficiency.' At the same time, federal projects will also upgrade the shipping channel in Brunswick to handle larger vessels, and the state has allocated more than $6 million for special harbor improvements including a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plan for a bend widener and expansion of the turning basin. An expanded vessel meeting area at St. Simons Sound will improve safety for two-way traffic. Congress has approved approximately $38 million for Brunswick, including the $11.35 million federal share of the harbor improvements project. An additional $26.6 million is designated for dredging the federal waterway to its full authorized depth of 36 feet in the inner harbor and 38 feet in the outer harbor. Lynch noted that to date, federal funding and procurement has fallen short for both the annual maintenance dredging and the harbor modification project. He called on the Corps to identify a workable solution for these projects. 'Federal agencies must keep pace with this global trend by performing timely dredging to maintain safe channels in a dependable, proactive manner.' Find more articles by Stuart Chirls Helicopter lifts crew to safety from grounded container ship Jaxport completes vehicle berth expansion UPDATE: Photo of damage to US aircraft carrier in Mediterranean collision Analyst: Shippers' tariff fears could keep trans-Pacific container rates up during February 'dip' The post Georgia port tops US ro-ro gateways appeared first on FreightWaves.
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Brunswick now the top port in the nation for automobiles, heavy equipment
At the Brunswick State of the Port event Wednesday, Georgia Ports President and CEO Griff Lynch announced that Brunswicks' Colonel's Island Terminal is now the nation's busiest port for automobiles, as well as heavy farm and construction equipment. It takes the top spot from the Port of Baltimore, which was forced to shut down for weeks following a deadly bridge collapse. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] Lynch said the port handled more than 3 million tons of roll-on/roll/off cargo in 2024, including 841,000 cars and trucks. That's an increase of more than 13% over the previous year. Lynch said the boom coincided with $262 million in improvements completed last fall that expanded Brunswick's capacity for processing and storing autos. 'That's huge. I can't believe it myself,' Lynch said in a phone interview after his speech. He added: 'This is one of those 'If you build it, they will come' situations.' More than 90% of autos moved by rail at Colonel's Island are U.S.-made exports, according to Georgia Ports. The Port of Brunswick often gets overshadowed by its larger sister port in Savannah, the fourth-busiest in the U.S. for retail goods and other commodities shipped in containers. But Georgia officials have invested heavily in Brunswick, where Lynch said recent upgrades and expansions have caused automakers to shift business to Georgia from neighboring ports, including Jacksonville. Read: 'Well-protected': JAXPORT CEO predicts tariffs will have minimal impact on operations The Port of Brunswick plans further upgrades in the coming years. A new berth built for docking larger car-carrying ships is being designed and should open in 2027, Lynch said. The port is also building a new railyard that will eventually triple its capacity for using trains to deliver cars for export. Meanwhile, Georgia port officials are looking to Washington to fund improvements to Brunswick's shipping channel. The Army Corps of Engineers wants to widen portions of the waterway to give ships more room to turn after the South Korean freighter Golden Ray tipped over while leaving the port in 2019. Lynch said maintenance dredging is also needed to return the channel to its proper depth of up to 38 feet. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
