Port of Virginia makes progress in 2020 despite the challenging trade environment and pandemic

The effects of the pandemic and trade tariffs on world trade had a significant impact on The Port of Virginia’s ® 2020 cargo volumes as the port saw a dip of more than 4 percent in its overall volume numbers for the calendar year. 

“This year presented more challenges to world trade than the industry could have ever imagined and The Port of Virginia team and our ILA labor partners performed at a world-class level throughout,” said John F. Reinhart, CEO and executive director of the Virginia Port Authority. “Our volumes for 2020 are not what we had hoped for initially, but we finished the year without any interruptions in our operations and record-setting volumes in October, November, and December. Even though it was a difficult year, we delivered significant accomplishments.” 

The port closed its year having processed more than 260,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) in December, making it the best December volume on record. Comparatively, Dec. 2020 volumes were ahead of Dec. 2019 volumes by nearly 16 percent, or 35,500 TEUs. The port set its all-time monthly volume record in Nov. 2020, having handled more than 280,000 TEUs and surpassing the mark of 274,000 TEUs set in Oct. 2020.