Bottleneck Remains at Major California Ports, Others See Record Activity; $5.6 Billion in Port Projects Under Construction

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The bottleneck of cargo ships at the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach continues amid ongoing supply-chain issues, and ports across the country are seeing historic container activity.

The Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach handle about 40% of all cargo containers entering the U.S., and as of October 4, had 62 cargo ships at anchor combined, according to the Marine Exchange of Southern California. However, that is down from a record-high 73 ships on September 19.

Mario Cordero, the executive director of the Port of Long Beach, recently issued a warning in an interview with Fox Business, saying, "the situation is in crisis mode." He told the outlet this is largely a result of port terminal shutdowns in China due to COVID-19, as well as increased U.S. consumer demand for goods as more Americans shop from home.

But according to Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka, port congestion is not the only snag in the supply chain: "Two billion square feet of warehousing from the shores of the Pacific out to the desert region are overflowing," he told the Los Angeles Business Journal. "We need more workers on the job. We probably need expanded hours to match up with the work that's being done in other segments of the supply chain."

Ports across the country are feeling the squeeze from a continued boom in e-commerce and increased demand for U.S. imports. The Port of New Jersey and New York, which handles a majority of imports to the East Coast, saw a record amount of container activity in August, with more than 780,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). In Georgia, the Port of Savannah, the fourth-largest port in the U.S., handled almost 486,000 TEUs in August--a 10% increase year over year and its second-busiest month on record. Meanwhile, Port Houston in Texas saw its highest container activity ever--320,086 TEUs, a 29% year-over-year increase.

Roger Guenther, executive director of Port Houston, expects "elevated levels in the supply chain to continue well into 2022," adding the port "will continue to explore opportunities including accelerating an already aggressive capital investment strategy for our terminals to stay in front of the demand."

Industrial Info is tracking $5.6 billion worth of marine cargo handling projects that are under construction in the U.S., including $3.2 billion in the Southeast market region, which includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Click on the image at right for a graph showing U.S. marine cargo handling projects under construction, by market region.

In Florida, Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPORT) is responsible for about one-third of the Southeast region's total investment value, with a series of projects to support its Blount Island Container Terminal. Construction is underway on an estimated $704.5 million harbor deepening project that will increase the Jacksonville shipping channel's depth from 40 feet to 47 feet, in order to cater to larger cargo ships coming into port from the Suez and Panama canals. Meanwhile, a second phase (Contract C) will complete deepening of the channel through the Blount Island terminal, and includes an expansion of the adjacent turning basin. Completion is expected before the end of 2022. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Industrial Manufacturing Project Database can see detailed project reports on the harbor deepening and its second phase.

Also underway at the terminal is the construction of a $51 million Phase 2B expansion, which is expected to be completed by the end of the year, as part of a long-term agreement between Jacksonville Port Authority and terminal operator SSA Marine (Seattle, Washington) to construct a new container terminal at the Blount Island site. When fully complete, the project is expected to increase Blount Island's container capacity from 200,000 TEUs to 500,000 TEUs. Phase 2B involves providing electrical infrastructure for future electric container cranes and cargo rail. Subscribers can click here for the detailed project report.

At the Port of Savannah in Georgia, an estimated $220.5 million Mason Mega Rail extension is expected to be completed by the end of the year. The project will double the port's existing rail capacity by adding new rail and installing 18 new working tracks, in order to improve the efficiency of moving containers from trains at the Garden City Terminal to trucks that deliver goods to e-commerce warehouses in major cities such as Atlanta, Memphis, and Jacksonville. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Along the Gulf Coast, an ongoing terminal expansion at the Port of New Orleans in Louisiana is expected to increase the Napoleon Container Terminal's annual handling capacity by 20%. And at the Port of Boston in Massachusetts, the Conley Terminal expansion would increase the storage capacity at the only full-service container terminal in New England. Both projects are expected to be completed by the end of the year. For more information, see Industrial Info's project reports on the Port of New Orleans and Port of Boston projects.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn.