Port Houston nears 1mln TEU mark in Q1 2022
Container volume at Port Houston in March totaled 308,557 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs), according to the company's release. That brings the total for just the first three months of 2022 to 903,383 TEUs, an increase of 20% year-to-date over last year’s record year.
In March, Port Houston waived dockage for ships waiting at anchor that could berth while waiting for gang assignments in order to accelerate the working of vessels and move cargo through the port faster. Port Houston also recently added an additional hour to the daily gate schedule and announced regular Saturday gate hours starting in June.
Port Houston has accelerated projects at its container terminals, for example doubling gate capacity at Barbours Cut Container Terminal in March. Cargo at Port Houston’s multi-purpose facility at City Docks is also growing. General Cargo was up 18% in March and 23% year to date. Steel imports are up 131% and Bagged Goods imports are up 164% year to date through March. Auto units are down 34% for the year.
For more than 100 years, Port Houston has owned and operated the public wharves and terminals along the Houston Ship Channel, including the area’s largest breakbulk facility and two of the most efficient container terminals in the U.S. Port Houston is the advocate and a strategic leader for the Channel. The Houston Ship Channel complex and its more than 200 public and private terminals, collectively known as the Port of Houston, is the U.S.’s largest port for waterborne tonnage and an essential economic engine for the Houston region, the state of Texas and the U.S. The Port of Houston supports the creation of nearly 1.35 million jobs in Texas and 3.2 million jobs nationwide, and economic activity totaling $339 billion in Texas – 20.6 percent of Texas’ total gross domestic product (GDP) – and $801.9 billion in economic impact.
