Contracts totaling more than $2 million to upgrade software at Port Authority terminals and to expand network connectivity are among several matters that were approved during the regular February 22 meeting of the Port Commission of the Port of Houston Authority.
In his monthly report, Chief Executive Officer Alec G. Dreyer noted that January continued the relatively strong performance of December across all sectors of Port Authority business.
“While ship arrivals at the container facilities and in the Turning Basin were essentially flat between January of this year and last year, barge traffic was up a stout 30 percent for the first month of the year,” Dreyer said. “Nevertheless, TEU volumes were up 5 percent in January while unit counts were up 4 percent. Container tonnage was up a strong 7 percent.
“Put simply, we had the same number of ships arriving between years, but each ship was moving substantially more cargo,” he said.
Steel started the year well with 243,000 tons as compared to 154,000 tons in January of 2010: a 58-percent increase. Dreyer said other commodities also showed nice gains for the month, with an overall increase in general cargo of more than 21 percent.
Container revenue was up 8 percent, reflecting the growth in TEUs for the month. Turning Basin revenue was up 24 percent in January, directly in line with the amount of steel handled this year over last.
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Source: GLOBE NEWSWIRE, February 25, 2011