The Port of Corpus Christi achieved its best quarter and best half-year tonnage in its 100-year history, moving a record 46.4 million tons in the 2nd Quarter of 2022 and 90.1 million tons for the first six months of the year, according to the company's release. These new records eclipsed the prior record quarter (Q4 2021) by 4.8 percent and increased 11.9 percent from the previous half year record established in the first half of 2021.
These tonnage records were driven primarily by increases in crude oil and refined products exports as well as liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports and dry bulk imported cargoes.
Crude oil shipments for 1H 2022 totaled 52.4 million tons, for a gain of more than 12 percent over the prior record set in the same period last year. Refined products amounted to 15.8 million tons, an increase of 26.6 percent from 1H 2021. Dry bulk cargo came in at 3.9 million tons – 21.5 percent above the first half of 2021, and LNG shipments increased by 11 percent to 8.1 million tons. These record-breaking figures come shortly after the Port announced its best first four months ever, setting new tonnage and revenue records again, after a banner year in 2021.
As a leader in U.S. energy export ports and a major economic engine of Texas and the nation, Port Corpus Christi is the largest port in the United States in total revenue tonnage. Strategically located on the western Gulf of Mexico with a 36-mile, soon to be 54-foot (MLLW) deep channel, Port Corpus Christi is a major gateway to international and domestic maritime commerce.