Port Houston recorded its busiest year in 2022, as the global economy began recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and well-publicized West Coast port congestion persuaded some shippers to look to the Gulf Coast as an alternative.
Almost 55.1 million tons moved through the port last year, according to data released Tuesday by the port officials. The total is a new record for the port, and an increase of 22 percent compared with 2021. Container volume reached the equivalent of almost 4 million 20-foot containers, a 14 percent increase over 2021 and nearly double what Port Houston recorded in 2016, the year the Panama Canal expansion was completed.
The growth was consistent from January through November at the Bayport and Barbours Cut container terminals, port officials said. A dip in December import volumes at Port Houston and other ports, however, reflects a potential softening of the U.S. economy.
Steel had a standout year, with some 5 million tons of imported through Port Houston in 2022, an increase of 49 percent compared with 2021.
Roger Guenther, executive director at Port Houston, described the port's volume in 2022 as "incredible."
"The record growth seen over the last couple of years has been supported by continued investments in Port Houston terminals as well as the immense dedication of the Port Houston staff and (International Longshoremen's Association) labor who are committed to moving our region’s cargo," he said.
Those investments include the ongoing Project 11, a massive combined effort of the port authority, the Army Corps of Engineers, longshoremen and private contractors to widen and deepen the 52-mile-long Houston Ship Channel, which begins in Galveston Bay and wends its way to just east of downtown.
The $1 billion project, named Project 11 because it's the 11th major expansion of the Houston Ship Channel, is intended to support the expected growth of tonnage through Port Houston and the increasing size of cargo ships.
Big ships that now travel the waterway — considered one of the most challenging in the world for pilots to navigate — have to engage in tricky maneuvers dubbed "Texas Chicken" to avoid a grounding that brought Suez Canal traffic to a standstill and captured the world's attention March 2021. In that incident, a 1,300-foot cargo ship capable of carrying 20,000 20-foot containers, became wedged in the canal's narrowest point, halting traffic for six days. By the time it was freed, more than 350 ships were waiting to pass through the canal.