New York and New Jersey volume swell continues

The busiest seaport on the U.S. East Coast handled 551,117 TEUs in May, its fifth consecutive monthly record.    The Port of New York and New Jersey saw its containerized cargo volumes continue to rise in May, boosted by increases in both loaded import and export volumes.
   The busiest cargo gateway on the U.S. East Coast and third largest in the country handled 593,625 TEUs during the month, a 5.1 percent increase from May 2017 and the fifth consecutive monthly record, according to the most recent data from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ).
   Throughput of loaded imports grew 6.6 percent year-over-year to 302,081 TEUs, while laden export volumes surged 9.3 percent to 130,341 TEUs. Exports of empty containers, however, slipped 0.2 percent to 159,743 TEUs compared with the same month a year ago, and import empties dropped 33.9 percent to just 1,460 TEUs.
   ExpressRail, the port authority’s ship-to-rail system serving New York and New Jersey marine terminals, also set a new all-time monthly volume record in May with 57,732 container lifts, a 19.6 percent jump from the same 2017 period.
   Through the first five months of 2018, cargo volumes at the Port of New York and New Jersey have grown 6.8 percent year-over-year to 2.83 million TEUs, keeping the port on pace to surpass the record 6.71 million TEUs it handled for all of 2017.
   Cargo growth has been fueled by an 8.8 percent increase in import loads to 1.45 million TEUs and a 9.9 percent jump in loaded exports to 626,884 TEUs. Empty container exports also have grown 2.1 percent to 744,675 TEUs, while empty imports have dropped 30.3 percent to 6,457 TEUs.
   In non-containerized cargo, vehicle volumes at the port surged 22.6 percent year-over-year to 52,312 units in May, bringing the year-to-date total to 240,693 automobiles, a 6.8 percent increase from the first five months of 2017.