Port Houston crosses 1M TEUs

Port Houston said on April 22 that first-quarter container traffic reached 1,087,870 twenty-foot equivalent units, up 2% from the same period in 2025. (porthouston.com) March handled 391,037 twenty-foot equivalent units, a 1% increase from March 2025. Loaded imports rose 7% in the month and 4% year to date. (porthouston.com) Total tonnage across Port Houston’s public facilities reached 13,897,479 short tons in the quarter, up 5%. Dry bulk jumped 107% in March and liquid bulk rose 23%, led by grain and industrial commodities. (porthouston.com) The mix was not uniformly stronger. Loaded exports fell 6% in March from a year earlier, though they were still up 1% for the year to date, and steel imports were down 29% for both the month and year to date. (porthouston.com) Houston entered 2026 after its strongest year on record. Port Houston closed 2025 with 4,303,345 twenty-foot equivalent units, up 4%, and 54,491,066 short tons, up 3%. (porthouston.com 1) (porthouston.com 2) Port Houston says it can absorb surges of about 20% above projected growth at its Bayport and Barbours Cut container terminals. The port tied that claim to recent market-share gains during prior freight spikes. (porthouston.com) The port is also adding equipment. The final six of 16 rubber-tired gantry cranes ordered in 2025 arrived in March, bringing the fleet to 163 across the two container terminals. (porthouston.com) About half of that gantry-crane fleet now uses hybrid-electric technology, which Port Houston said cuts air emissions by about 90% and carbon dioxide emissions by 30% versus diesel units. (porthouston.com) Chief Executive Charlie Jenkins said the Houston Ship Channel handled 2,089 vessel calls in the quarter, up 4% from a year earlier. The million-TEU quarter came with that channel still running as one of the busiest freight corridors on the Gulf Coast. (porthouston.com)