EAST COAST
PORT OF SAVANNAH SEES CARGO VOLUMES DIP IN JANUARY
The Port of Savannah saw total cargo volumes dip 11.5 percent last month compared to January 2022, The Port of Savannah handled a total of 421,714 TEUs in January, dragged down by a 16 percent year over year drop in imports. Compared to pre-pandemic numbers, last month came in 11.7 percent ahead of January 2020 when the port handled 377,671 TEUs. The falling cargo volumes come after Port of Savannah handled a record 5.9 million TEUs in 2022. U.S. exports were a bright spot for GPA in January as loaded container exports from the Port of Savannah growing 21 percent year over year to 110,305 TEUs. Meanwhile, the number of empty export containers via Savannah declined 34,650 TEUs on reduced demand for Asian goods served by the empty boxes.
FIRST SEGMENT OF HOUSTON SHIP CHANNEL EXPANSION PROJECT COMPLETED
Port officials in Houston are announcing the completion of the first segment of the $1 billion Houston Ship Channel expansion project. The project, officially known as “Project 11”, will widen and deepen the Houston Ship Channel, one of the nation’s busiest waterways, to accommodate bigger ships. The first segment, known as Segment 1A, constitutes a stretch of 11.5 miles in Galveston Bay from Bolivar Roads, located at the entrance to the Bay, to Redfish. Port Houston said the expansion of the area is expected to help increase safety, reduce congestion, and improve vessel transit times by approximately an hour by reducing daylight restrictions.“The deepening and widening of the channel is a $1 billion commitment to our growing economy, the generation of more jobs in our region, and the safety of the nearly 20,000 vessel transiting the Houston Ship Channel.
TAMPA APPROVES PLANS TO BUILD TRANSLOADING FACILITY ADJACENT TO PORT
Trade Point Atlantic will design and construct a 500,000 – square-foot warehouse distribution center that will help ease the flow of cargo through Port Tampa Bay.
WEST COAST
CONTAINER DWELL TIMES AT LOS ANGELES AND LONG BEACH PORTS RETURN TO NORMAL
Container dwell times at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are returning to normal with the pandemic cargo surge easing. For rail-bound containers, January dwell time averaged 4.3 days, down from a peak of 16.5 days in August 2022. The National Retail Federation is predicting that containerized imports in the first half this year will reach only 10.9 million TEUs, which would be down 19.4% from the first half of 2022.
PORT OF LOS ANGELES SEES SOFTER TRADE TO START THE YEAR
The Port of Los Angeles moved 726,014 TEUs in January for a 16% decrease from January 2022. January 2023 loaded imports reached 372,040 TEUs, down 13% compared to the same month last year but the busiest month for imports since August 2022 and up 5% from December. Loaded exports came in at 102,723 TEUs, an increase of 2.5% compared to last year. Empty containers landed at 251,251 TEUs, a 26% year-over-year decline. Loaded exports came in at 102,723 TEUs, an increase of 2.5% compared to last year. Empty containers landed at 251,251 TEUs, a 26% year-over-year decline. Next door the Port of Long Beach fared worse in January, moving 573,772 TEUs in January, down 28.4% from January 2022. Imports, in particular, decreased 32.3% year over year.
UP SHIFTING TO STACKED CONTAINER OPERATION AT JOLIET FOR CALIFORNIA IMPORTS
Union Pacific is changing operations at its terminal outside Chicago in a bid to prevent future disruption by creating stacks for containers arriving from California, a move that will affect tens of thousands of ocean boxes per month
