Moreover, June’s totals wrapped-up the best first-half-of-a-calendar-year performance by the port in its history: since January, the port has handled 1.054 million TEUs, a 6 percent increase over the first half of 2012.
“There are a number of factors that we can attribute this success to: ocean carriers loading their vessels heavy to take advantage of our 50-foot deep channels, an increasing number of first-in and last-out vessel calls, our expanding rail service, our push into new markets like Greensboro (NC) and an improving economy,” said Rodney W. Oliver, interim executive director of the Virginia Port Authority. “We’re also seeing a lot of interest to expand operations by some large port users and given that we believe the growth will continue.”
In June, the port handled 175,864 TEUs, an increase of 7,434 units, or 4.4 percent, when compared with June 2012. Export TEUs tallied 93,020 and import TEUs were 89,635, an increase of 3.8 and 5.1 percent, respectively.
“In terms of cargo volume, this June was the best June we have ever had,” Oliver said. “Our rail volume in June was 7.6 percent ahead of where it was at the same time last year, which shows us there is significant and continuing interest in utilizing rail to and from this port.