Tonnage slips at Port Houston amid pandemic container volume up year-to-date
Monthly volumeat Port Houston, the 6th largest container port in the United States, showed a decline in April as the coronavirus outbreak continued to impact commerce in the U.S. and across the world, the company said in its release.
Port Houston handled a total of 221,540 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in April, a decrease of 12 percent compared to April of 2019, when a total of 252,693 TEUs were handled.
For the full year, however, Port Houston handled 994,627 TEUs through April, which is 5 percent more than the first four months of 2019.
Total tonnage at Port Houston’s public facilities was down 10 percent in the month of April at 3,766,756 short tons, a decrease of 3 percent year-to-date. Port Houston handled 3,910 auto units in April, 41 percentless than the same month last year, and down 31 percent for the first four months as compared to the same period in 2019. Steel, primarily used in the energy industry, is down 50 percent year-to-date at 784,733 short tons through the end of April, a reflection of today’s turmoil in the oil and gas sector.
About Port Houston
For more than 100 years, Port Houston has owned and operated the public wharves and terminals of the greater Port of Houston –the nation’s largest port for the foreign waterborne tonnage and an essential economic engine for the Houston region, the state of Texas and the U.S. nation. The Port of Houston supports the creation of nearly 1.35 million jobs in Texas and 3.2 million jobs nationwide, and economic activity totaling $339 billion in Texas –20.6 percent of Texas’ total gross domestic product(GDP)–and total of $801.9 billion in economic impact across the nation.
