October bountiful for ports on East, Gulf coasts

For U.S. ports on the East and Gulf coastlines, the fall has been productive, but not as rewarding for at least one West Coast gateway.

In October, the Georgia Ports Authority handled 552,800 twenty-foot equivalent units, according to a report released on Monday. This is an increase of 48,460 TEUs, or 9.6%, from October 2021. In contrast, the Port of Long Beach, California, transported 658,428 TEUs in October, a 16.6% decrease from the corresponding month in 2016.

October was the Port of Savannah’s second-busiest month on record, behind only August of this year, when the port handled 575,500 TEUs, according to GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch.

“Customers continue to bring new or expanding business to the Port of Savannah, drawn by our global connectivity and the supply chain network that links Savannah to major U.S. markets,” Lynch said in a news release. “We can report that ships at anchor are trending downward, and expanded berth capacity coming online next year will allow us to serve our growing customer base with even greater efficiency.” 

The port said that, from July through October of this year, an additional 107,000 TEUs were sent by 160 importers, either new or existing clients, who increased their Savannah trade by 20% or more.

According to Joel Wooten, chairman of the GPA board, “there has been negative pressure on the entire U.S. container trade attributable to inflation and a shift in consumer expenditure toward services such as restaurants and vacation.” To the contrary, the Port of Savannah keeps outperforming the national market and generating new business for Georgia.

The GPA claimed that recent data revealed East Coast ports’ market share of the container traffic climbed from 47% in July 2021 to 48.4% in July of this year.

Much of that increase could be attributed to an easing of the semiconductor shortage. 

“Greater availability of computer chips has allowed carmakers to increase production,” GPA Chief Commercial Officer Cliff Pyron said. “This, combined with manufacturers’ traditional end-of-the-year push, yielded strong results for our October auto volumes.”

Container volume increases in South Carolina

A total of 256,879 TEUs were handled by the South Carolina Ports Authority last month, up from 226,807 TEUs in September and 234,923 TEUs in October 2021, according to the organization’s website.

as at 2:00 PM South Carolina Ports handled 132,639 TEUs of exports and 124,239 TEUs of imports in October, according to its statistics page, which was updated at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Monday. However, the company did not post a news release with its volumes.

The data suggests that October of last year was the best on record for South Carolina Ports. September was no different.

Export record in Corpus Christi

On the Texas Gulf Coast, the Port of Corpus Christi achieved a monthly crude oil export record in October with 2.2 million barrels per day. According to the port, that represents a market share of more than 60% of the country’s overall crude export market.

The port also broke its previous record from just the second quarter of 46.4 million tons, a 4% increase, by exporting a total of 48.3 million tons, primarily crude oil.

Crude oil shipments in Q3 totaled 28.7 million tons, up 5% from Q2 according to the port. 8.3 million tons of refined goods were produced, a 4.4% increase. The volume of dry bulk cargo increased 3.7% to 2.1 million tons, while LNG exports increased 5.8% to 4.2 million tons.

Charles Zahn Jr., chairman of the port commission, declared in a statement that “the Port of Corpus Christi is a critical economic engine, not just for the Texas Coastal Bend region but also for the state and the nation.” “This accomplishment also enables the Port of Corpus Christi to reinvest in this wonderful community and prepare for future infrastructure enhancements that will deepen the port’s commitment to serving not only its current clientele but also luring new clients to the area,” the port stated.

Volumes down in Long Beach

The Port of Long Beach stated in its cargo report from late last week that its volumes “easened in October as a result of decreased consumer demand and a shift of imported products toward the Gulf and East coasts.”

The port reported that in October, exports decreased 2% to 119,763 TEUs and imports decreased 23.7% year over year to 293,924 TEUs. Last month, there were 244,743 TEUs of empty containers, a 13.4% decrease from October 2021.

Mario Cordero, executive director of the Port of Long Beach, attempted to put a positive spin on the declines by stating that “the supply chain is returning back to normal and cargo is continuing to move, so I am optimistic that store shelves will be stocked and goods will be available for delivery during the holiday season.”

According to the port’s news release, it moved 8,000,811 TEUs in the first ten months of 2022, a 1.5% increase over the same time in 2021.

The port stated, “Economists think consumers still have the means to weather economic headwinds, despite increasing prices and borrowing rates. According to experts, a softer consumer market will result in a better balance between supply and demand and lessen the strain on the country’s supply chain.

 

 

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