An economic development engine for the State, the South Carolina Ports Authority handles international commerce valued at more than $75 billion annually[2] while receiving no direct taxpayer subsidy.

626 (Title 54 - Ports and Maritime Matters in South Carolina Code of Laws) as an instrumentality of the State possessing the powers of a body corporate.

The largest facilities are located in Charleston, where the SCPA operates five major ocean terminals capable of handling breakbulk and container shipments in addition to passenger vessels.

Located within the Carolinas I-95 Mega Site, Inland Port Dillon has close proximity to I-95, a critical transportation artery in the Southeast.

The initial phase is expected to handle at least 45,000 containers annually, offering overnight access to and from the Port of Charleston via an existing CSX mainline.

[6] A 2023 study by Dr. Joseph Von Nessen at the University of South Carolina's Darla Moore School of Business concluded that the SCPA's statewide impacts include:[7] South Carolina Ports Authority invested $1.05 billion in new and existing facilities between Fiscal Years 2016 and 2020, including the recently opened Hugh K. Leatherman, Wando Welch Terminal improvements, a new corporate headquarters, inland ports in Greer and Dillon, and the Ridgeville Industrial Campus.