Port Houston rings in new year with massive growth

Port Houston maintained momentum during the first month of 2022 following its busiest year in history for containers. Records show container volume in January totaled 323,427 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) which is 27 percent more than the same month in 2021. This is the biggest January ever for Port Houston containers. 

“Following a busy holiday season, Port Houston expected large numbers of containers to continue into 2022 as importers pushed orders at origin prior to the Lunar New Year when factories in Asia traditionally close down for the holiday period and Texas exports of petrochemical and other products ramped up production to meet demand overseas. We have therefore accelerated expansion projects at our container terminals to meet the fast growing demand,” Port Houston Executive Director Roger Guenther said. 

Port Houston’s multi-purpose facilities cargo also continued to climb in January. Steel skyrocketed by 188 percent during the first month of the year and auto units increased 82 percent.  

“We are not immune to many of the challenges faced in the industry today, but we are facing these challenges head on. At our container terminals we are adding yard space, opening additional gates, widening road access to our facilities and developing our workforce pipeline to handle the business,” Guenther said. “This preparedness from our team, coupled with the arrival of three new neo-panamax ship-to-shore cranes at our Bayport Terminal in February, puts us into position to meet future demand and continue being a leader in the industry.” 

Looking ahead, The Houston Ship Channel Expansion, also known as Project 11, is also underway. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently awarded Port Houston $142,515,000 as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. That funding will be utilized to complete the expansion into energy terminals and the two container terminals to accommodate 15,000 TEU class, neo-panamax vessels.