Gulf Trade : 2024 Market Report
Special Report
LIT rendering . Port NOLA
Region-wide expansion
The dueling projects in Louisiana come amid expectations for modest volume growth along the Gulf Coast in 2024 after a rebound in exports helped to soften the blow of import declines that were less severe than on the West and East coasts last year .
US Gulf Coast ports handled a total of 3.98 million TEUs of containerized cargo in the first 11 months of
“ With no bridges in its way , the new Louisiana International Terminal will meet market demands for much-needed supply chain solutions .”
2023 , down 0.8 % from the same period in 2022 , as a 9.2 % increase in laden exports nearly offset a 7.1 % drop in imports , according to PIERS , a sister product of the Journal of Commerce within S & P Global .
Anticipating container volume growth of 1 % in 2024 , with exports rising 3.2 % and imports declining 2.6 %, Port Houston is moving forward with long-term expansion plans that include the widening of the Houston Ship
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Channel from 530 feet to 700 feet to allow for two-way vessel traffic , as well as the installation of additional shipto-shore cranes at the port ’ s Bayport and Barbours Cut container terminals . Houston accounted for 71.1 % of the Gulf Coast ’ s total container volumes in 2023 , according to PIERS data .
Port Houston officials say expansion of the first section of the channel to the Bayport Container Terminal is expected to be complete later this year , with the portion extending to the Barbours Cut Container Terminal to follow in 2026 .
“ As we begin 2024 , our eye is on making continued strategic investments to facilitate larger vessels and more of our region ’ s cargo ,” Roger Guenther , executive director at Port Houston , said in a statement Jan . 17 . “ We are adding important landside capacity at our two container terminals and making good progress on the Houston Ship Channel Expansion .”
The Port of Mobile in Alabama is also undertaking various terminal expansion projects that will boost its annual container handling capacity to 1.1 million TEUs from 650,000 TEUs currently . Those projects include installing two additional ship-to-shore cranes , expanding its container storage yard and building a flyover bridge that will allow for quicker access to the port ’ s intermodal rail terminal .
email : michael . angell @ spglobal . com
February 12 , 2024 | Journal of Commerce 25