Tulsa Port of Catoosa volumes fall in September

The port handled less cargo in September than in August, the result of the depletion of stocks for some agricultural commodities that are typically shipped through the port, lower demand from international markets, and less demand for steel and pipe.    Tulsa Port of Catoosa, an inland river port in Northeast Oklahoma situated at the head of navigation for the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System, has handled 1.09 million tons of cargo since the beginning of 2015.
   The port’s total inbound and outbound water-borne cargo for September stood at 93,624 tons. In August, the port reported that 155,990 tons of cargo moved through the port on barge.
   The port attributed the throughput decline from August to the depletion of stocks for some agricultural commodities that are typically shipped through the port; lower demand from international markets; and the low price of crude oil, which has reduced the demand for steel and pipe.
   “While we are feeling the effects of the low price of oil, we have always had a very diverse portfolio of industries and commodities – a strength for us even though some commodities also see seasonal variations in both supply and demand,” City of Tulsa-Rogers County Port Authority Chairman David Page said in a statement.
   For the month of September, total shipping for the entire McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System, a 445-mile navigation channel that originates at Tulsa Port of Catoosa and runs southeast through Oklahoma and Arkansas to the Mississippi River, was 1.04 million tons, 352,872 tons of which were shipped through Oklahoma. Tulsa Port of Catoosa handled 9 percent of cargo shipped on the navigation system in September and 27 percent of the cargo that moved through Oklahoma.