Container volume flat at Houston after last year’s spike

The Port of Houston is retaining a large chunk of the cargo that was diverted its way last year by shippers seeking to avoid congestion at West Coast ports that resulted from contentious dockworker contract negotiations.    Container volumes at the Port of Houston ticked up 1 percent to 171,648 TEUs in February from the same month in 2015, while general cargo fell 12 percent to almost 3 million tons, the port authority reported.
   Officials said that holding container volumes steady demonstrated Houston’s new appeal to shippers and its ability to retain some of the cargo volume that came its way after port disruptions on the West Coast in 2014 and early 2015 caused by contentious dockworker contract negotiations.
   A year ago, loaded container volumes grew almost 18 percent due to cargo diversion from the U.S. West Coast. Loaded import container volumes in 2016 have declined 2 percent (7,203 TEUs) in the first two months of the year to 129,591 TEUs. Overall, container volumes are down 2.9 percent year-to-date, but much of that difference is in empty containers.
   The Houston Port Authority said the decline in general cargo was primarily driven by a drop in steel imports.
   One of the port authority’s strategic goals is to become a logistics hub for the central United States as it builds its container capacity through infrastructure enhancements. Container volumes continue to grow with the addition of ocean services, such as from ACL/Grimaldi Lines.
   An in-depth feature on the Port of Houston’s container opportunities and logistics facilities can be found in the upcoming, April issue of American Shipper.