Port of Virginia sets box volume record in 2016

The port handled a record 2.65 million TEUs in 2016, a 4.2 percent jump from 2015, with increases in both imports and exports.    The Port of Virginia handled a record 2.65 million TEUs of containerized cargo in 2016, a 4.2 percent increase from 2015.
   Imports rose 6 percent, while exports ticked up 2.6 percent from 2015, the Virginia Port Authority (VPA) said.
   The Richmond Marine Terminal had its most productive year since the Virginia Port Authority began leasing the facility in 2010, and volumes were also up at the Virginia Inland Port in Front Royal, Va.
   “In 2016, we moved 106,000 more TEUs than we did in 2015, which until now, was our highest volume year on record,” VPA CEO and Executive Director John F. Reinhart said. “The growth is significant – 8,800 TEUs a month, on average – and we have responded with improved throughput in all facets of the operation, especially rail, where volume was 551,496 containers, an increase of 14 percent when compared with 2015. This record rail result placed the Port of Virginia as the highest rail-volume port on the East Coast, truly solidifying our position as the Mid-Atlantic’s global gateway.”
   The VPA also said the fourth quarter of 2016 was the best in the port’s history, with double-digit increases in volume, with the port increasing its market share of East Coast cargo volume to 14.5 percent.