Port of Charleston container volume up in January

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) -- Container volume through the Port of Charleston increased almost 8 percent last month compared to January of last year.

The board of the South Carolina State Ports Authority was also told Tuesday that volume for the first seven months of the fiscal year that began on July 1 is up more than 11 percent.

Authority President and CEO Jim Newsome said the authority's container business has been growing faster than the national average. He said that, on average, container volume was up about 2 percent nationally in 2012 while Charleston grew 11 percent last year.

Newsome added that in the fiscal year to date, non-containerized cargo is up about 30 percent at South Carolina's ports.