Port Houston saw its busiest April on record, handling a total of 334,493 TEUs for the month. This is a 21% increase over container volumes the same month in 2021 and also a 21% increase year-to-date, according to the company's release.
Year-to-date container volume at Port Houston surpassed 1 million in April, reaching 1,237,876 TEUs. The ongoing surge in container volume is driven primarily by imports. Loaded import TEUs at Port Houston reached unprecedented highs with 162,965 TEUs in April, the highest monthly loaded import volume ever at Port Houston’s container terminals, as a growing number of importers redesign network strategies that favor Houston as a national hub.
In a positive sign for regional exports of resin, chemicals, cotton and other goods and products made in the U.S., loaded container exports for the month via Houston were up 25% for the month of April at 114,860 TEUs (up 4% for the year). Outbound empty container volume was up 6% as compared to the same month last year, at 43,155 TEUs for April 2022. Year-to-date, outbound empty container volume is up 80% with a total of 215,306 TEUs worth of empties shipped out of Port Houston’s container terminals.
April’s steel volume was up 47% versus the same month last year at 376,039 tons, continuing an upward trend for the year. Steel volumes year-to date are up 106% at 1,711,408 tons through the end of April. In a recovering sign for autos, finished vehicle volume was up 70% for the month or 5,045 units, driven by imports of VW, Audi, Porsche and Fiat, helping close a gap. Auto unit volume still is 18% down year-to- date, or 3,410 units short of last year’s volume at this time. The automotive sector was hit hard by supply chain issues, with production hampered by a global shortage of electronic components and bottlenecks due to COVID-19 lockdowns.
For more than 100 years, Port Houston has owned and operated the public wharves and terminals along the Houston Ship Channel, including the area’s largest breakbulk facility and two of the most efficient container terminals in the US. Port Houston is the advocate and a strategic leader for the Channel. The Houston Ship Channel complex and its more than 200 public and private terminals, collectively known as the Port of Houston, is the nation’s largest port for waterborne tonnage.