Port of Houston Usage and Profits Up

The Port of Houston Chief Executive Officer Alec Dreyer reported growing revenues and usage of the port for 2011.

Container tonnage is up over seven percent which means that container liner companies that service Houston are handling more vessels with higher profitability.

“In the long run this means the Texas economy is expanding” said Dreyer. Steel tonnage for June was 442000 tons nearly three times the level of June 2010. For the first six months of this year steel has increased over last year by 886000 tons or 86 percent. The monthly total for July is expected to be nearly half a million tons.

|!|Turning Basin revenue was up 38 percent in June and is up 31 percent for the first half of the year directly attributable to the much higher levels of steel this year over last|!| Dreyer said. |!|Turning Basin revenue is also ahead of budget by some eight percent overall.|!|