Container volume at Port Houston in March totaled 308,557 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs). That brings the total for just the first three months of 2022 to 903,383 TEUs, an increase of 20% year-to-date over last year’s record year.

“Port Houston is constantly evaluating growth within the industry and developing innovative solutions to accommodate that growth,” Port Houston Executive Director Roger Guenther said. “We know that velocity of goods is of the utmost importance to our customers and we continue to evaluate our procedures and infrastructure to improve efficiency.”

In March, Port Houston waived dockage for ships waiting at anchor that could berth while waiting for gang assignments in order to accelerate the working of vessels and move cargo through the port faster. Port Houston also recently added an additional hour to the daily gate schedule and announced regular Saturday gate hours starting in June. Port Houston has accelerated projects at its container terminals, for example doubling gate capacity at Barbours Cut Container Terminal in March.

Cargo at Port Houston’s multi-purpose facility at City Docks is also growing. General Cargo was up 18% in March and 23% year to date. Steel imports are up 131% and Bagged Goods imports are up 164% year to date through March. Auto units are down 34% for the year.