Box surge at Port of Hampton Roads
The volume of standard 20-foot cargo containers moving through the port of Hampton Roads last month was up 24 percent compared with August 2011, reported The Virginian-Pilot & The Ledger-Star.
The port handled 188,658 units, up from 151,975 in the same period last year. From January through August, 20-foot container volume was up eight percent from 2011.
"We continue to set new thresholds on container volumes and that is exciting to see," Michael Quillen, chairman of the port authority's board, said in a statement.
"What is more significant is that the market, I believe, is beginning to respond to all that we have prepared for: We have big ships calling that need our 50-foot draft, an increasing demand on rail and we're expanding our market."
The August increase follows the port's best May, June and July on record for volume of 20-foot containers moved.
The last time the port saw more volume in August was in 2007, before the global recession hit, when 192,905 units were handled.
The volume of containers moved by rail also grew last month, up 22.8 percent from August 2011. Year-to-date, the total of rail containers handled grew 15 percent compared with the same period last year.
The number of containers moved by barge between Hampton Roads and the Port of Richmond, as well as ship calls and containers handled at the Virginia Inland Port in Front Royal, also grew in August.
The volume of break-bulk cargo grew to 25,413 tonnes, a 15.3 percent increase compared with the same month a year ago.
Year-to-date, break-bulk tonnage is up 6.6 percent compared with the first eight months of 2011, the authority reported.