Plastics and resins helped drive exports of loaded containers at Gulf Coast ports in Houston and New Orleans in February.
Import growth in Port Houston is slowing, but export growth is increasing.
Port Houston container volume increased 15% year on year in February to 313,452 twenty-foot equivalent units.
“Our cargo activities continue to remain solid for the first two months of the year versus 2022,” Port Houston executive director Roger Guenther said Monday at the port’s monthly meeting. “Our overall tonnage is up 7% today compared to last year across all of our terminals.”
In February, import containers increased 20% year on year (y/y) to 159,787 TEUs. Imports were down 7% from January.
Steel imports, which helped propel Port Houston to some record-breaking months in 2022, were down 30% year on year in February to 327,655 tons.
If you’re looking for a unique way to express yourself, this is the place to be. Total export tonnage increased by 9% year on year to 2.2 million tons.
Guenther stated that import demand is “softening” at ports across the country as retailers try to get rid of inventory sitting in distribution centers across the country.
Future Projections and Adjustments
Total imports, including empty import containers, fell 4% year on year to 2.3 million tons in February.
“We are now seeing some significant softening of demand at our container terminals as well, particularly in the import of containers in Houston,” Guenther said. “Retailers in our country, as well as regionally and nationally, have very high levels of inventory in their distribution centers.” Imports are likely to continue to fall in the first half of the year as retailers sell off the inventory in these distribution centers. We believe the volume will begin to recover in the second half of the year.”
Port Houston’s Chief Operations Officer, Jeff Davis, also stated that imports are “dropping off,” as less cargo is coming from Asia. Consequently, there has been a noticeable decrease in the volume of goods arriving from this region.
“When we look at this month, it’s up, but when we compare it to the last six months of [2022], it’s starting to fall off,” Davis said. “We’re not seeing empties return to Asia as full containers.”
Davis noted that the ship queue at the port is now zero, with no waiting vessels.
Ship calls decreased 6% to 581 vessels, and barge calls fell 29% to 262.
Ship calls decreased 6% to 581 vessels, and barge calls fell 29% to 262.
Port of New Orleans: a container of records
The Port of New Orleans saw a 33% increase in February TEUs, totaling 38,456.
Plastics, resins, and chemicals were the top containerized commodities that passed through the port in February.
“Overall container figures are up compared to February 2022,” the port’s spokeswoman, Kimberly Curth, told FreightWaves. “This is a positive sign because export demand is increasing.”
In February, breakbulk cargo totaled 125,580 short tons, a 35% year on year decrease from the same month in 2022.
During the month, the top breakbulk commodities were steel and rubber cargo.
In February, the port handled 12,723 Class I rail car switches, a 22% increase year on year. The port handles rail switching for six Class I railroads: BNSF, CN, CSX, KCS, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific.
