July was a busy month for Port Houston’s Bayport Container Terminal. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers renewed our Bayport permit and the Port Commission approved a nearly $37 million contract to purchase three new dockside electric container cranes for Wharf No. 6 at Bayport, which is currently under construction. Additionally, we received a shipment of five new hybrid rubber-tired gantry cranes and another four are expected to arrive in late August.

With these vital additions, we can continue the master plan of expanding the Bayport container terminal as well as other facilities and properties outside Bayport for the next five years to meet consumer and carriers’ needs. Construction has already begun with building out Wharf No. 6, Container Yard 2, and other properties at Bayport.

This improvement is part of the larger strategic plan to optimize infrastructure and Houston Ship Channel capacity to better serve the region. By 2040, Port Houston plans to add more berths to the Bayport container terminal, bringing the total to as many as nine berths and a capacity to handle more than 4 million TEUs. By that time, there will be 21 dockside electric container cranes and 84 rubber-tired gantry cranes working at the Bayport facility.

In addition to building infrastructure, Port Houston is focused on efficiency, understanding the value of moving goods quickly through our gates and to consumers. Plans include increased transloading ability, warehousing capabilities, and the addition of an intermodal rail yard adjacent to the Bayport container terminal complex. Plus, continued use of innovative technology will improve terminal efficiency and maximize Port Houston’s supply chain visibility and world-class logistics support. In total, $1.4 billion in capital investments are planned over the next 5 years and potential $4 plus billion over 20 years to enhance Port Houston’s facilities and the waterway.

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John Martin of Martin Associates presents at April Port Commission meeting.

Thousands of new jobs were created in and around the Port of Houston in 2018, as Texas’ most prolific economic engine has been continuing to create positive economic impact for the region, state and nation.

That’s the finding of the most recent study by Martin Associates of economic activity created by the port. The study that focused on 2018 was similar to Martin’s last comprehensive study of the port, which was in 2014.

In 2018, marine cargo activity at the public and private marine terminals at the Port of Houston and along the Houston Ship Channel supported a total of $339 billion of total economic value in the state of Texas. That includes Port Houston’s eight terminals, along with the estimated 200 private terminals along the Houston Ship Channel.

The $339 billion represents about 20.6 percent of the $1.6 trillion state of Texas Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Port Houston Chairman Ric Campo, who addressed Harris County Commissioners Court in April, told the commissioners that because the port is a national asset, the Martin study also covered the national impact.

“The port generated $801 billion in economic value, sustained 3.2 million jobs and provided $38 billion in tax revenue,” Campo noted.

The study is based on interviews with 986 different firms that provide services for the cargo and vessels handled at Port Houston’s terminals and the private terminals.

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