Port Houston Hits All-Time TEU Record

Port Houston hit an all-time record for monthly container volumes in May, handling 335,000 twenty-foot equivalent units, a 16 percent increase over the same month last year. 

Roger Guenther, Port Houston’s executive director, said during the port’s monthly meeting June 28 that container tonnage set new records, and it seemed new records were being set “every day,” according to the logistics publication Freightwaves.Total import tonnage was 2.8 million tons in May, a 32 percent year-over-year increase. Total export tonnage was 2.1 million tons, a 2 percent year-over-year decrease. Imports of steel increased 72 percent year-over-year in May to 401,587 tons. Imports of general cargo increased 83 percent to 840,351 tons.

Port Houston has been handling about 13,000 daily interchanges combined at its Barbours Cut and Bayport container terminals but set a single-day record of 14,000 on June 23, said Jeff Davis, Port Houston’s chief operations officer. Davis said the port was working 26 ships on a typical recent day. 

At the beginning of June, Port Houston expanded its hours at the Bayport and Barbours Cut container terminals to include Saturdays. The new gate hours were put in place to help optimize the flow of cargo through the terminals. Davis said Saturday volumes have been disappointing so far but hoped more truckers will begin to utilize the extra workday.