On a hot Wednesday afternoon, Greer's inland port is bustling with activity.
There is something beautiful about the order. Trucks drive along straight paths across the site, gantry cranes move steadily to load and unload trains, and cargo containers are stacked in neat rectangular blocks, their different colors forming a patchwork of commerce against the clear blue sky.
That number is expected to double by 2025, contributing to the state's long-term economic growth, particularly as people and businesses move to the region.
The $50 million expansion project at Greer's inland port is expected to be largely completed by the end of this year. Terminal manager Will Angelich said the expansion will double cargo capacity and improve rail capabilities.
“We currently occupy around 20 hectares of concrete area and we are in the process of expanding this area by another 20 hectares,” said Angelich.
SC Ports has regional economic reach and impact
The port's importance extends beyond Charleston and Greer. An estimated 11% of jobs across the state are supported by port activity.
South Carolina's ports have an annual economic impact of $86 billion statewide, with $44 billion of that coming from the Upstate alone. Companies in neighboring states also use the port facilities, and SC Ports has a regional impact of $96.8 billion.
“With Inland Port Greer extending the port's reach 212 miles inland, it's very surprising to many to learn that more than half (of its) economic impact is made here in the Upstate,” Angelich said. “One in nine jobs is directly or indirectly related to the Port of Charleston; here in the Upstate, one in seven jobs is related to the port.”
Operations in Charleston will also expand, said Barbara Melvin, president and CEO of SC Ports. The Navy Base Intermodal Facility, scheduled to open in July 2025, will combine Norfolk Southern and CSX rail stations.
“The Navy Base Intermodal Facility will significantly improve our state's infrastructure network and create a more efficient way to move goods across South Carolina. It will also bring more freight through Greer,” Melvin said. “These investments directly support the growth of the Inland Port of Greer and the entire Upstate, which continues to attract investment from companies expanding their operations and building facilities in this area.”
SC Ports imports and exports everything from manufacturing parts, tires and finished vehicles from BMW and Volvo to household goods, clothing and frozen foods. Many of the items exported are made in South Carolina (about 73% of the cargo), and the items imported come from around the world, but primarily from Asia and Europe, according to Laura Clifton, public relations manager for SC Ports.
“Currently, chemicals, forest products and agricultural products are our three main container exports,” Clifton said.
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SC Ports is the eighth-largest container port in the United States and the fourth-largest on the East Coast. Only the Ports of New York and New Jersey, the Port of Georgia and the Port of Virginia have higher cargo volumes.
“[It’s] It is important to note that despite a 2% decline in total U.S. exports in 2023, South Carolina's export sales increased 18% from 2022,” Clifton said.
10 years of growth in Greer
The first phase of the expansion project, the track expansion, began in October 2021 and was completed in March. According to Angelich, the expansion added approximately 2,700 meters of track to the facility. The second phase, the container terminal expansion, is scheduled to be completed this fall.
As part of the expansion, the Greer facility will also add two new rubber-tired gantry cranes (RTGs), the machines that move loaded cargo containers, to the seven it already has. Angelich said the new machines will arrive in mid-September and should be operational by the end of December.
The Greer Inland Port celebrated its 10th anniversary last year, far exceeding original expectations.
“This facility was designed to perform 100,000 rail lifts in its fifth year of operation, and we exceeded that in its third year,” Angelich said. “Since then, this facility has far exceeded all expected performance benchmarks. We are on track to perform a record of approximately 190,000 rail lifts this fiscal year.”
That growth is important, noted Joseph Von Nessen, an economist at the University of South Carolina's Darla Moore School of Business, during OneSpartanburg's Voice of Business Brunch in May, because SC Ports supports the activities of the industries most responsible for the state's long-term economic growth, particularly advanced manufacturing and retail and distribution companies. Interest from those industries is only expected to grow over the next 20 years.
“We're going to see more population growth in the Southeast over the next two decades than any other region in the country,” Von Nessen said. “And that's critical for South Carolina because it tells us what industries are going to drive growth. That means that companies in retail and distribution, like Walmart or Amazon, are going to increasingly look for locations in the Southeast, in areas where they can distribute their goods to their customers. So South Carolina is going to become more and more competitive geographically because of these migration trends, and with an advantage like the port facilities, South Carolina is going to be extraordinarily competitive in the future.”
Samantha Swann covers city news, development and culture in Spartanburg. She is a graduate of the University of South Carolina Upstate and Greenville Technical College. Contact her at [emailprotected] or on Instagram at @sam_on_spartanburg.
