Port of Virginia box traffic rises 12.6 percent
The volume of containers handled by the Port of Virginia in May jumped by 12.6 percent to 178,584 20-foot-equivalent units from the same month last year. May’s throughput was also 5.3 percent higher than in April, the Journal of Commerce reported.
The Virginia Port Authority attributed the jump to an increase in exports, which rose 56 percent during the month, while import rose 44 percent, and to 12 more ship calls in May.
The VPA expects another increase in June as a result of China’s decision to lift its year-long ban on imports of logs from Virginia as of June 1, allowing some containerized logs to be loaded for export at the port in May.
For the year to date, the port’s container throughput was up 4.3 percent year-over-year.
The volume of breakbulk cargo handled by the port soared 59 percent in May to 25,161 tons from May 2011. The year-to-date breakbulk volume increased by 24 percent to 153,415 tons from 123,369 tons in the same period last year.
Total rail containers handled in May were 33,221, up 21.6 percent from a year earlier. Year-to-date rail container volume was up 13 percent to 148,794 from 131,709 in the same period last year.
The number of containers moved between the Port of Richmond and the Hampton Roads Harbor on the 64 Express barge service in May was 1,019, an increase of 144 percent year-over-year. The year-to-date total for the barge is up 97 percent to 3,994 containers from the 2,023 handled during the same period in 2011.
