Baltimore cargo volumes dip after record March

Container volumes at the Port of Baltimore decreased 8.8 percent compared to April 2014, according to the latest figures from the Maryland Port Administration.    Container volumes at the Port of Baltimore in April decreased 8.8 percent to 58,864 TEUs compared to April 2014, according to the latest figures from the Maryland Port Administration’s cargo data portal.
   Through the first four months of the calendar year, container volumes are up 3.2 percent to 249,508 TEUs, primarily on the strength of a record-setting March. Public terminals at the Port of Baltimore handled 77,772 TEUs in March, a 28 percent jump from the same month a year ago. Volumes were slightly down in each of the other three months compared to 2014 figures.
   The port also set a record in March for total containers moved, regardless of size, with 49,971 boxes.
   Container traffic could increase in the coming months with the arrival of a new CMA CGM service from Europe. The Liberty Solo/Liberty Bridge service will now call Rotterdam, Bremerhaven and Le Havre in Europe and New York, Baltimore and Charleston in the United States.
   General cargo at the Port of Baltimore reached 806,718 tons in April, down from 900,847 tons a year ago. But the port set a record with 913,139 tons in March compared to 798,587 tons in March 2014.
   Year-to-date growth in general cargo  – containers, autos, forest products, machinery – is flat compared to the same period in 2014.