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LONG BEACH, December 1 – Port Houston continues to set the pace for the top ten US container gateways, recording 13.25% growth year over year in October, as well as 17.58% year to date – the highest annual growth rate anywhere in the country.

“Although the import demand in the US appears to be softening, we have not seen any slowing in Houston in recent months,” Roger Guenther, Port Houston Executive Director, said. 

“We are handling record amounts of cargo and remain focused on aggressive infrastructure development to optimize capacity and efficiently handle current and future demand through our port.” 

Ahead of Houston in terms of percentage growth yoy for the month of October was Oakland, up 16.84%, while Savannah, up 9.61%, and Charleston, with 9.35%, followed the leaders. Still, Houston topped all ports in the ytd figure.

New York-New Jersey flatlines

The Port of New York-New Jersey, which has been leading the nation in volume for the past several months, was actually down yoy in October, with throughput of 792,548 teu, representing a decline of a half percent over last October’s 796,704 teu. 

New York-New Jersey has none the less shown ytd growth of 9.41%, which is the second highest rate in the country next to Houston’s nearly 18%. Norfolk is the next nearest competitor with 8.15% ytd growth. 

Surprisingly, Norfolk – like New York-New Jersey – saw a yoy growth rate of virtually zero for the month of October, seeing 318,452 teu this year versus 318,482 in October 2021.

Generally, the four main East Coast ports did very well in October, increasing their share of the nation’s throughput by 4.30% during the month, while also seeing their ytd share increase by 2.14%.

West Coast ports lose market share

Much, if not all, of this growth has come at the expense of the West Coast ports, which showed a loss of over 3% in market share to their competitors in October, dropping more than 2% of ytd throughput to ports along the East Coast and around 1% to the Gulf Coast.

In monthly terms, the loss was even greater as West Coast ports dropped 5.83% of their market share yoy in October, with their East Coast rivals gaining 4.30% and 1.53% going to the Gulf.

Port of Los Angeles executive director Gene Seroka explained his facility’s downturn as resulting largely due to some cargo owners bringing goods in early this year.

“Additionally, cargo has shifted away from the West Coast as some shippers await the conclusion of labor contract negotiations,” he said, acknowledging a 25.83% decline in throughput year over year in October, as well as a 5.91% drop year to date. 

Port of Oakland sees uptick

The neighboring Port of Long Beach also saw a double-digit decline in teu volume in October. Volume fell 16.7% to 658,428 teu compared with 789,716 yoy. Of the five West Coast ports, only Long Beach remains in growth ytd, up 1.47%.

Alone of the five West Coast ports, Oakland saw a positive increase in throughput yoy in October, hitting a stellar 16.84% during the month – the highest increase among the nation’s top ten ports.

Port of Oakland Maritime Director Bryan Brandes said the recent “uptick in volume” at his facility is welcome news, especially on the export side, but he conceded that “we anticipate that overall cargo will decline on the West Coast in the coming months.”

That left the Northwest Seaport Alliance of Seattle-Tacoma to report that its throughput decreased 13.56% to 272,129 teu from 314,801 teu in October 2021. It also said ytd volumes declined 8% to 2,905,183 teu, with imports down 12.5% and exports declining 22.4%.

Cordero philosophical over trend

Overall, the West Coast has seen its market share drop by 3.12% in the past year, with 2.14% of that figure picked up by the East Coast and 0.98% by the Gulf. In October alone, the West Coast saw a 5.83% decline, with the East up 4.30% and the Gulf at a plus 1.53%. 

Port of Long Beach Executive Director Mario Cordero was philosophical about the trend away from West Coast ports, saying the supply chain is “returning back to normal” – a movement underway for a while.

“For a number of years, we have witnessed an incremental loss of market share,” he told the Long Beach Business Journal. “The big picture from the nation’s perspective, it’s not a bad thing. [Other ports] have been engaged in their own capital improvement investments, so they offer great options for the American shipper.”

Photo: Port Houston is setting the pace for growth. Credit: Port Houston.