The South Carolina Ports Authority (SC Ports) confirmed on June 25, 2026, that the Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal will pause container operations starting August 1, 2026, with all cargo activity consolidated into the port’s two other major container terminals, Wando Welch Terminal and North Charleston Terminal. 

New terminal underutilized despite major investment

The Leatherman Terminal, which opened in 2021 after more than a decade of planning, was developed as a flagship infrastructure project on the U.S. East Coast. The facility represented an investment of around $1 billion and was designed as a highly automated deepwater terminal aimed at handling ultra-large container vessels calling the Southeast U.S. market.

At full buildout, the terminal was expected to provide up to 2.4 million TEU of annual capacity, significantly expanding Charleston’s role in trans-Pacific and Asia–U.S. trade flows.

However, actual throughput has remained far below expectations. According to operational data cited by local reporting based on SC Ports figures, the terminal handled only around 75,000 TEU in the last fiscal year, equivalent to roughly 10% of its designed Phase 1 capacity.

Reasons behind the suspension

SC Ports said the decision is driven by a combination of:

weaker-than-expected container demand

uncertain trade outlook for the second half of 2026

elevated operating costs relative to other terminals in Charleston

industry-wide volume softening and carrier network adjustments 

Port leadership emphasized that the move is a “short-term operational pause”, not a permanent closure, and that existing terminals have sufficient spare capacity to handle redirected volumes.

Cargo rerouting and operational impact

Starting August 1, all container operations currently handled at Leatherman will be shifted to:

Wando Welch Terminal (Mount Pleasant)

North Charleston Terminal

SC Ports stated that shippers can expect continued service reliability, but industry participants anticipate short-term network disruption, particularly in:

vessel berth planning and allocation

inland rail and drayage routing

chassis and yard congestion patterns

schedule reliability for Asia–U.S. East Coast services

Several weekly liner services currently calling at Leatherman are expected to be redistributed across other Charleston terminals, potentially altering carrier rotation patterns and inland delivery flows.

Broader implications for U.S. East Coast trade lanes

The decision highlights a broader challenge facing U.S. East Coast port expansion strategies: capacity growth has outpaced near-term demand growth in certain gateways, while carrier alliances continue to concentrate services at fewer high-efficiency terminals.

For ocean carriers, the immediate effect is expected to be re-optimization of East Coast port calls, with possible adjustments in:

Charleston service strings

Savannah–Charleston rotation balance

inland rail connectivity via Norfolk Southern and CSX corridors

Southeast U.S. distribution hub strategies

Structural question remains

The Leatherman Terminal was originally envisioned as a long-term growth engine for the Port of Charleston and a key infrastructure node supporting Southeast U.S. trade expansion.

However, its underutilization and now temporary suspension raise questions about:

timing mismatch between infrastructure investment and trade cycle

carrier willingness to shift volume to new cost structures

labor and operating cost competitiveness among East Coast ports

resilience of port expansion models in volatile demand cycles

SC Ports has reiterated that the facility remains part of its long-term capacity strategy and that operations will resume once market conditions and volume levels justify reopening.

Conclusion

The temporary shutdown of Charleston’s Leatherman Terminal marks one of the most significant operational adjustments in the U.S. East Coast container port system in recent years.

While positioned as a short-term consolidation, the move will immediately reshape cargo routing patterns across the Southeast U.S., and adds a new layer of uncertainty to liner network planning during a critical peak season preparation window.