In June, ports in Houston and Corpus Christi, Texas, set records for shipments of oil drilling products and automobiles, as well as increases in crude oil and refined product exports.
In June, Port Houston set a TEU record.
Port Houston set a monthly container volume record for the second month in a row, carrying 323,823 twenty-foot equivalent units, an 11 percent increase over the same period the previous year.
Port Houston handled 335,000 TEUs in May, a monthly record. The port has handled 1.8 million TEUs so far this year, an 18 percent increase over 2021.
“Port Houston is witnessing record numbers at our container ports, but there are also significant delays owing to the great demand,” said Roger Guenther, executive director of Port Houston. “We do not expect the container surge to abate anytime soon, and we are actively exploring several strategies to maintain a fluid, high-velocity environment during this period of the great demand for containerized freight.”
Total import tonnage was 2.6 million tons in June, a 15% rise year on year but a 6% decrease month on month compared to May. Total export tonnage was 3 million tons, a 38 percent increase year on year and a 40 percent increase over May.
Steel imports grew 33 percent year on year in June at 377,191 tons but fell 42 percent month on month compared to May. The total revenue tonnage increased by 26% to 5.7 million tons.
Steel imports and demand for oil country tubular items were bolstered by oil drilling operations throughout Texas, according to port officials. In June, auto import units increased by 411 percent.
Loaded container TEU imports jumped 13% year on year to 157,778 TEUs in June, while loaded container exports increased 22% to 102,889 TEUs.
In June, empty export container TEUs fell 5% year on year to 53,392. TEUs of empty import containers declined 20% to 9,764.
In June, Port Houston received 973 total ship and barge calls, a 6.7 percent decrease from the same period the previous year.
Corpus Christi’s port hits quarterly and half-year tonnage records.
The Port of Corpus Christi set new tonnage records, owing to increases in crude oil and refined product exports, as well as LNG exports and dry bulk imported cargoes.
The port transported 46.4 million tons of cargo in the second quarter of 2022 and 90.1 million tons in the first half of the year, breaking previous quarter and half-year records set in 2021.
“These figures demonstrate the importance that the Port of Corpus Christi and its industry partners play in the global marketplace, delivering certainty in difficult times,” said Charles W. Zahn Jr., the port’s commission chairman.
Shipments of crude oil totaled 52.4 million tons in the first half of the year, a 12% rise over the same period in 2021. Total crude oil shipments in June were 9.6 million tons, of which 8.6 million tons were exported.
The port also handled 4.8 million tons of petroleum in June, a 26 percent increase over the same month last year. Petroleum exports for the month totaled 3.8 million tons, a 2.7 percent raise over the same period last year.
Dry bulk cargo grew 21.5 percent year on year to 3.9 million tons, while LNG shipments increased 11% to 8.1 million tons.
In June, 648 ships were called at the Port of Corpus Christi, including 447 liquid cargo barges and 201 liquid cargo ships. Ship calls increased by 10% year on year as compared to June 2021.
