THE Port of Houston's container throughput has stabilised for the first time since the beginning of the Covid crisis, with a four per cent drop in figures in August, reports the UK's Container Management.
The Gulf Coast hub handled 248,630 TEU, representing the first single-digit decline since the start of the Covid crisis. Decreases in volumes ranged between 10-16 per cent between March and July.
'We are hopeful for a strong rebound in the fourth quarter, and that this is the beginning of continued growth in our container TEU,' said Port Houston executive director Roger Guenther.
'Import containers have been strong and we've seen a large number of extra loaders this peak season as retailers in our region replenish inventories, and those extra loaders have helped balance the impact of blank sailings,' he said.
Mr Guenther said the port's fundamentals remain solid since there has been strong activity in construction and expansion of e-commerce distribution centres, which support imports, as well as resin packaging capacity to support exports.
During the summer, Frontier Logistics completed a 500,00-square foot rail-served warehouse adjacent to Barbours Cut Container Terminal, boosting the hub as a regional manufacturing base.
Total tonnage through the port in August was down seven per cent with steel, breakbulk cargo and autos all down compared to August 2019, although grain and bulk cargo again showed increases, as they did in previous months.
Over the first half of 2020, throughput was down 2.3 per cent at the port, constituting the smallest decline of the top 10 container ports in the US.
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The Gulf Coast hub handled 248,630 TEU, representing the first single-digit decline since the start of the Covid crisis. Decreases in volumes ranged between 10-16 per cent between March and July.
'We are hopeful for a strong rebound in the fourth quarter, and that this is the beginning of continued growth in our container TEU,' said Port Houston executive director Roger Guenther.
'Import containers have been strong and we've seen a large number of extra loaders this peak season as retailers in our region replenish inventories, and those extra loaders have helped balance the impact of blank sailings,' he said.
Mr Guenther said the port's fundamentals remain solid since there has been strong activity in construction and expansion of e-commerce distribution centres, which support imports, as well as resin packaging capacity to support exports.
During the summer, Frontier Logistics completed a 500,00-square foot rail-served warehouse adjacent to Barbours Cut Container Terminal, boosting the hub as a regional manufacturing base.
Total tonnage through the port in August was down seven per cent with steel, breakbulk cargo and autos all down compared to August 2019, although grain and bulk cargo again showed increases, as they did in previous months.
Over the first half of 2020, throughput was down 2.3 per cent at the port, constituting the smallest decline of the top 10 container ports in the US.
SeaNews Turkey