US Gulf Coast ports see volume increase in March

Major US Gulf Coast ports such as Houston and New Orleans saw cargo growth in March 2025, despite tariff and global market volatility.

Port-of-houston

Port of Houston (Photo: JOC/Phaata)

Port of Houston Recovers Container Volume in March

After slowing cargo volumes in February, the Port of Houston handled 386,864 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in March, up 7% from the same month in 2023.

This is a significant recovery after fog disrupted shipping operations through the Houston Ship Channel in February, when the port handled just 325,424 TEUs, down 13% from February 2024.

“At the container terminals, March was our busiest month on record for loaded exports,” Mike Shaffner, the port’s director of operations, planning and technology, said at a board meeting Tuesday. “This is driven by strong export volume that increased by 14% compared to last March.”

Year-to-date container throughput at Houston’s public ports has surpassed 1 million TEUs, reaching 1.1 million — roughly the same as the same period in 2024.

“In terms of our financials, they’re performing as expected and are slightly evolving there,” Shaffner said. “The full impact of tariffs and fees for Chinese vessels remains the variable that we’re keeping a close eye on.”

The port has recorded three blank sailings in recent weeks — a phenomenon known as “blank sailing,” when a shipping line cancels a scheduled sailing due to low bookings.

“Three ships that were scheduled to come decided to not show,” he added. “We haven’t seen those blanks yet, and we’ve had one announcement from a trans-Pacific service that will downsize to smaller ships they move.”

Total exports in March were 152,857 TEU, while imports were up 2% year-over-year to 167,859 TEU.

Steel imports were up 26% year-over-year to 436,256 short tons. Year-to-date, steel imports were 1.1 million short tons, up 10% year-over-year.

Total cargo volume through Houston’s eight public ports in the first three months of the year was 13,202,844 tons, down 2% year-over-year.

Shaffner also said that April is looking better than March: “As of today, April is trending up and we still have two days of activity remaining.” “Also, April looks to be better than March because of strong demand.”

Port of New Orleans Sees Growth in Containers and Breakbulk

The Port of New Orleans handled 46,676 TEUs in March, up 3% from a year ago.

Breakbulk volumes for the month were up 11% year over year to 91,463 short tons.

“In March, we saw a significant import volume of cement in super sacks, doubling the volume we received during the same period of time from last fiscal year,” said port spokeswoman Kimberly Curth.

Year-to-date, the port has handled 832,034 short tons of breakbulk, up 10% from a year ago, driven by steel, natural rubber and project cargo.

The main container imports for the month included coffee, chemicals and furniture. The main exports were resins, chemicals and synthetic rubber.

Breakbulk volumes were mainly natural rubber, project cargo and bag cargo.

The port handled 7,557 Class I rail cars during the month, from six major rail carriers: BNSF, CN, CSX, CPKC, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific.

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