A more than 38 percent surge in imported steel amid other break-bulk cargo gains led the Port of New Orleans to a third straight year of healthy tonnage increases, the port reported Monday. Overall, total general cargo tonnages at the port grew 8.6 percent to 7.55 million tons in 2012 compared to the same period one year ago.
The port imported more than 1.922 million tons of steel in 2012, compared to 1.389 million tons in 2011.
While break-bulk cargo grew, containerized cargo realized little growth following a record year in 2011. In fact, containerized tonnage was up a total of 38 tons compared to 2011 at 4.114 million tons--zero percent year-over-year difference. And while tonnages were flat, total TEUs for the calendar year fell 2.9 percent to 463,147 TEUs, compared to 477,363 in 2011.