The ports of Houston, Mobile, and New Orleans will likely find the strong growth they enjoyed in 2019 difficult to replicate this year as US ports confront the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on supply chains.

US Department of Transportation grants totaling $1.7 million have been awarded to Gulf Coast projects that aim to reduce truck traffic by moving containers -- often filled with resin -- by barge through the ports of New Orleans and Houston.

An expansion of the sole container terminal at the Port of New Orleans is expected to improve efficiency and expand the terminal’s capacity to handle cargo volumes that have risen by high single-digits this year.

The 2M Alliance has added the Port of New Orleans to a route linking China with the Gulf of Mexico, giving the Gulf Coast port its second service from the Far East and adding to its rapidly growing volume of import cargo.

As exports from the region waned, expansion of all-water services from Asia and a boom in import distribution facilities contributed to double-digit growth in imports to US Gulf ports last year.

If you sense that matching a US Gulf Coast port channel’s depth to the depth of the new, expanded Panama Canal would generate more business opportunities, you’re correct.

KCS will add a weekly container train between New Orleans and Dallas to feed empty containers to port and provide intermodal capacity to support imports. The Port of New Orleans is trying to leverage its newly acquired Public Belt short line to expand intermodal service.

The long-delayed boom in plastic resin exports is forecast to finally arrive this year, sector officials say, and a second wave is likely by 2022. That is expected to create opportunities for ports on all three US seacoasts, but it will also stress port, truck, and intermodal rail operations.

With the long-awaited boom in US production of synthetic resins expected to finally materialize this year, shippers are urging carriers to add more services from the Gulf to Asia. But will ocean carriers respond?

A downriver site on the Mississippi River would provide expansion capacity and no bridge restrictions.

US Gulf ports’ share of the nation’s container trade has been inching up for several years.

CMA CGM has scheduled additional sailings on its routes between Asia and the US Gulf and South Atlantic coasts.

Surcharge comes as ports, carriers prepare for surge in synthetic resin exports.

New Panama Canal services from Asia are helping to fuel steady growth in Gulf ports’ single-digit share of US containerized imports.

After initial apprehensiveness, motor carriers and shippers appear to have adjusted to the systems.