The Port of New Orleans surpassed the half-million mark for twenty-foot-equivalent units handled in a 12-month period for the first time, said Port President and CEO Gary LaGrange during the 29th Annual State of the Port Address Thursday.
“It’s another milestone that comes on the heels of four record years in a row,” LaGrange said. “We anticipate continued growth in our container market, along with a robust breakbulk and project cargo market, as we recently set 14-year highs in tonnage moved over Port docks.”
The most recent 12-month container data through September found the Port handled 537,285 TEUs, a 13.6 percent increase over the same period one-year ago. Those figures reflect a more than doubling of container volume in the Central American trade lane through September, buoyed by banana imports and paper and chemical exports.
In addition, the latest breakbulk cargo data through May 2015, illustrates a more than 15 percent growth in breakbulk tons, led by an 18.7 percent increase in imported steel.
“While we expect some softening in the imported steel market this fall, we anticipate the investment boom in the chemical and petrochemical industry on the Lower Mississippi River will spur continued growth for the future,” LaGrange said.
Chemical and petrochemical companies have announced more than $81 billion in investments in new and expansion projects in Louisiana, leading experts to predict chemical exports could triple as these projects are completed and come online in the coming years.