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Port of New Orleans sets container volume record

The Port of New Orleans has had a second straight record-setting year.

Its container volume was up 11.6 percent compared to 2010, and 46 percent from two years ago, President and CEO Gary LaGrange said Tuesday.

Year-end figures show the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal moved the equivalent of 476,413 20-foot containers in 2011, and more growth is likely this year, LaGrange said.

"Two back-to-back record-setting years is a testament to the hard work of our customers and terminal operators," he said. "Our volumes are attributed to a strong export market, particularly chemicals and agricultural products; coffee and apparel were strong commodities on the inbound side."

He says the port added a new Latin American container service and a sixth shipping line last year.

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Article Commentary - A Step Further...

As long as global food and petroleum demand remains higher, the port in New Orleans will see continued strength in cargo activity. Starting with petroleum, the port really benefitted from a favorable export condition this year. US WTI crude oil was at a $20 per barrel discount to Brent North Sea Crude for much of the year. And, at times the US dollar was much weaker than other currencies. Therefore, exports of crude out of the US were much more attractive and many countries would take US crude over other options. That was especially true when troubles erupted in Libya, Nigeria, Egypt, and parts of Asia this past year.

With global drought and flooding conditions also hitting some countries pretty hard, US supplies of grains (where appropriate) were in demand. The Brazilian sugar cane crop for ethanol production was hit a bit harder than many had expected - and that drove demand for alternative products that they could use to produce fuel. Several other trends are also supportive of continued growth in the New Orleans area. Expansion of the Panama Canal over the next two years, improvement of the Suez Canal trade patterns, increased demand from South America, etc. will all help to push more demand to the Gulf Coast ports. This is a positive trend that we will be watching for several years to see if the Port of New Orleans can set new records every year for the next several periods. That should be possible.