Port Authority Vice President Olga Rodriguez gave a talk at the Omni Hotel Oct 21, 2010. The subject was the 25-mile-long complex of diversified public and private facilities which make up the Port of Houston. Currently the Port is:
1st in foreign waterborne tonnage
1st in United States imports
2nd in U.S. export tonnage
2nd in U.S. in total tonnage
There are 150 public and private terminals which serve the 7,700 ships which used the Port last year. The net income of the Port is up 172%. The port creates 785,000 jobs for the economy which results in an economic impact of $188,000,000.
There has been a 9% increase in container tonnage, with revenues up more than 8%. The Port of Houston exports more than it imports. This helps to keep the Port strong against any economic impacts. The Port has $625,000,000 in improvements planned for 2010-2011. The Bayport expansion will account for 29,200 permanent jobs.
Asian imports have grown from 8% to 32% of containerized volume. Labor issues on the west coast stimulated transfer of Asian shipping to the Port of Houston The Panama Canal expansion when complete in 2014 should only add to the expansion.
Houston is convenient to shippers of inland sales by truck and rail. The Houston population is expected to double sometime between 2030 and 2040. Increased traffic congestion, and rising fuel prices will also push more cargo onto rail. At the present time 75% of cargo moves by truck. Rail traffic is expected to double by 2035 with new rail routes opening up across the United States.
The Port of Houston is a continually changing, with future growth expected on 1,100 acres located on Pelican Island. In 2005, the port authority completed a five-and-a-half-year plan to deepen the channel from 40 to 45 feet and widen it from 400 to 530 feet. The Port collects $100,000,000 in harbor maintenance tax. This money is sent to Washington with somewhere between $20,000,000 to $23,000,000 returning to Houston. The City is still currently working on getting cruise lines to dock in Houston.
Source: The Port of Houston Authority