Port of New Orleans Reports Cargo Surge
More containers moved through the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal at the Port of New Orleans in March and April 2016 than in any two months in the port’s history. According to figures released this week, 50,974 twenty-foot-equivalent units moved through the Terminal in April, besting the previous monthly record of 48,594 TEUs in March of 2016. The two-month total of 99,568 TEUs is up 6.1 percent, compared to same two months in 2015. Surging container volumes come on the heels of higher overall cargo volumes in 2015.
Port of New Orleans Riding High
The Port of New Orleans has surpassed the half-million mark for twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEU) handled in a 12-month period for the first time, announced Port President and CEO Gary LaGrange during the 29th Annual State of the Port Address hosted today by the International Freight Forwarders and Customs House Brokers Association of New Orleans. “It’s another milestone that comes on the heels of four record years in a row,” LaGrange said. 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.
Chemical Tankships Deep Laden on Fracking Boom
The boom in U.S. natural-gas supplies is boosting chemical exports to Asia, driving up demand for specialized ships that carry the products and sending freight rates to a five-year high, reports Bloomberg. Earnings for tankers carrying 20,000 metric-ton cargoes in stainless-steel tanks will rise 12 percent to an average of $14,500 a day next year, the most since 2009, according to Bloomberg, citing RS Platou Markets AS, the investment-banking unit of Norway’s largest shipbroking group. China, the largest importer, is on course to buy more than ever, pushing fleet use to 87.2 percent of available transportation capacity this year and 89.8 percent in 2014, the highest since 2008, Platou estimates. Source: Bloomberg
