Container handling through South Carolina’s ports, including Charleston, climbed 4% on a year earlier in April after a 20% surge in exports to reach a new record. It’s not all good news though as imports fell 6% and the 12 month annual rate of growth still dropped to 3% – the slowest since 2016. The slide in imports may partly reflect a regional shift in shipments with both Savannah (up 9%) and Virginia (down 4%) doing better. Competition between the container-lines remains fierce though with MSC experiencing a 19% drop in volumes while Hapag-Lloyd’s surged 45% higher.