In November, container volume at Port Houston grew by double digits, according to the company's release. A total of 348,950 TEUs were handled during the month, up 11% compared to November 2021.
It was the fourth- highest month ever for containers at Port Houston’s Barbours Cut and Bayport container terminals. Container volume is up 17% year-to-date through November, totaling 3,682,874 TEUs for the first eleven months of 2022. The week before Thanksgiving was the highest ever for truck transactions, with more than 70,000 combined total transactions, while Saturday gates continue to make slow progress towards increased utilization.
According to the Global Port Tracker and Journal of Commerce, retailers forecast a softening of containerized imports into the U.S. and for the drop to continue into the new year. Although volumes at Port Houston continue to be extremely solid through November, with the fourth largest month on record, import activity will likely begin to level off during the next few months in the U.S. Gulf as well.
General cargo at Port Houston’s facilities grew by 45% year-to-date compared to the same time last year. Auto imports were up 141% for November 2022 and 14% year-to-date compared to 2021. Steel imports took a dip in November; however, this year's steel volume has been substantial, making 2022 the best year for steel tonnage in more than five years.
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 country. 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 and an essential economic engine for the Houston region, the state of Texas and the U.S. 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 $801.9 billion in economic impact across the nation.