Port of Seattle
The top North American ports had another strong month in April as larger vessels begin to arrive and drop off more containers in a single stop than ever before.
The Georgia Ports Authority processed 333,006 industry-standard 20-foot-equivalent units, or TEUs, a 12% increase compared with April 2016. The total number of imports, both loaded and empty, rose 12% to 163,092 and exports improved 11% to 169,914.
The Port of Savannah ranks No. 4 in North America based on annual container volume.
“Savannah has established itself as a premier gateway serving the Eastern United States,” said Griff Lynch, GPA’s executive director. “Our team is not only keeping pace with record volumes, but has managed to set new industry standards in cargo velocity, berth productivity and congestion free gates.”
Through the first four months, dockworkers have transported 1.3 million TEUs, up 10% from 2016. The port has recorded year-over-year gains and processed more than 300,000 TEUs each month so far in 2017.
The Northwest Seaport Alliance, which consists of Seattle and Tacoma, Washington and ranks No. 5 in North America, posted a 0.5% gain in container traffic to 282,775 TEUs versus 2016 levels. However, international-based business increased 8% to 226,955 while traffic with Alaska and Hawaii dropped double-digits. International imports rose 1.3% to 117,950 and exports jumped 16% to 109,005.
Through April, container traffic has increased 7.6% to 1.2 million.
The Port of Virginia, No. 7, moved 225,196 TEUs in April, which is 4.6% higher than the same month last year. Imported containers grew 7.9% to 104,646 and exports improved 1.9% to 120,550. The Virginia Port Authority has handled at least 220,000 each month since October 2016.
“Our volumes remain steady, and we are on track to surpass the number of TEUs we handled in fiscal year 2016; through April we are up nearly 7%,” said John Reinhart, CEO of the Virginia Port Authority. “The new alliance networks went live April 1, and Virginia is the top East Coast port for deployed capacity for Asia-U.S. East Coast alliance services. The big ships are coming to Virginia and bringing corresponding amounts of cargo — and we are on the edge of peak season. Those realities, coupled with our expansion projects, are resulting in a very active spring at The Port of Virginia.”
© 2017, Transport Topics, American Trucking Associations Inc.
Reproduction, redistribution, display or rebroadcast by any means without written permission is prohibited.