Port of NY/NJ box volumes slip 1.7% in March

Through the first three months of 2017, however, the largest port on the U.S. East Coast has seen container throughput tick up 2.4 percent, surpassing the previous first-quarter record set in 2016, according to recent figures from the port authority.    The Port of New York and New Jersey handled 508,270 TEUs of containerized cargo volumes in March 2017, a 1.7 percent decrease from the same 2016 period, after posting record throughput figures the previous two months, according to the most recent figures from the port authority.
   Through the first three months of 2017, however, the largest port on the U.S. East Coast has seen container throughput tick up 2.4 percent to 1.53 million TEUs, surpassing its previous first-quarter record of 1.5 million TEUs set in 2016.
   Year to date, throughput of loaded imports has grown 1.9 percent to 773,388 TEUs, while loaded exports inched up 0.3 percent to 331,700 TEUs compared with the same 2016 period. Exports of empty containers increased 5.9 percent year-over-year to 423,351 TEUs, while empty imports dropped 29.1 percent to 4,565 TEUs.
   The port authority’s ExpressRail system saw traffic dip 2.8 percent to 46,721 units in March, but total first-quarter ExpressRail volumes have increased 2.8 percent from 2016 levels to 132,934 units.
   Through March, auto volumes at the port have surged 13.7 percent to 136,651 units compared with the prior-year period.
   The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey on Tuesday announced the lifting of certain air draft restrictions for vessels traveling under the Bayonne Bridge, allowing ships carrying up to 9,800 TEUs to call at terminals west of the span regardless of tidal conditions.