Port of Corpus Christi cargo volumes up 12 percent to 187.9 million tons in 2022
The Port of Corpus Christi ended 2022 with record tonnage, mainly attributable to a 21 percent year-over-year (YOY) increase in refined products and 15 percent YOY increase in total crude oil. The Port of Corpus Christi achieved a new annual tonnage record of 187.9 million tons – a 12 percent increase over 2021 volumes, according to the company's release.
Crude averaged a record 2 million barrels of export volumes per day in 2022, an increase over its 2021 record average of 1.76 million barrels per day. Petrochemicals exports increased 23 percent YOY, reaching 3 million tons for the year.
Notably, LNG exports have doubled since 2020 and increased 3.5 percent in 2022 versus 2021. Cheniere’s Corpus Christi Liquefaction facility announced its Phase 3 expansion in 2022, which will increase LNG exports by another 12 million tons per year over its current 16 million tons today.
The Port of Corpus Christi finished 2022 on another record high quarter in Q4 2022 – 49.6 million tons – surpassing the previous record of 48.3 million tons set in the previous quarter. For the periods July through December 2022, the Port of Corpus Christi‘s tonnage was 97.8 million metric tons, up 12 percent from the previous half-year record set in the second half of 2021.
In December, the Port of Corpus Christi hit an all-time high for crude oil exports, exceeding 70 million barrels in a month for the first time in its history. In 2022, the Port of Corpus Christi accounted for roughly 60 percent of all crude oil exports, according to research firm RBN Energy.
As a leader in U.S. crude oil 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.
