In his monthly report Wednesday, Alec Dreyer, CEO of the Port of Houston, said that steel tonnage for September was 399,000 tons, a 17 percent increase of September 2010, and steel is also up 62 percent year-to-date over last year. October is expected to be a strong month as well with indications pointing to 500,000 tons of steel being handled.
On the other hand, Dreyer said that container traffic at the Port remains relatively flat. Even though year to date, container TEUs are up 3 percent overall, Dreyer noted that "we clearly have seen a softening of container activity (a leading economic indicator) over the past few months reflective of a ‘no-to-low' growth economy at present."