Port Houston welcomed a business delegation from Qingdao City, China Nov. 21. Staff highlighted the port’s geographic location, surrounding facilities, Houston Ship Channel connections and history. The port has three East Asia all-water container services via the Panama Canal.

Economist Jordan Frisby provided background of the port’s terminals and shared information about the Houston region’s foreign trade zone, FTZ 84, which is sponsored and maintained by Port Houston. Frisby also noted the port’s large economic impact, providing over 50,000 direct jobs in the region.

“We are a busy port by global standards,” said Frisby.

Port Houston is an emerging gateway for the East Asia container trade into Texas and neighboring states, a lane that has been dominated by Southern California ports for decades. Key commodities in the Port Houston – China container trade include plastics, machinery and beverages. Houston also provides a strategic location for warehousing and distribution centers for companies looking for access to local Texas markets.

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Asia Cargo News named Port Houston the Best Seaport in North America, after tallying results from thousands of shippers and industry experts around the globe, Port Houston Executive Director Roger Guenther told the Port Commission of the Port of Houston Authority during its May meeting.

Asia Cargo News announced the results at an awards ceremony held in Shanghai, China, with 10,000 shippers and industry experts participating in the survey, according to the publication. The honor is particularly significant because the “nomination and voting results were determined by industry service users, rather than judges,” noted Guenther.

The AFLAS awards recognize industry organizations for demonstrating leadership, consistency in service quality, innovation, customer relationship management and reliability.

Port Houston’s representative in Asia, Ben Line Agencies, accepted the award on the port’s behalf.

“It is just a great honor to be recognized, and I wanted to thank all of the hard working employees that we have that help make this happen,” added Guenther.

Written by leading transport and cargo industry journalists, Asia Cargo News is a news publication focused on Asia trade.

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Port Houston staff welcomed representatives from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Houston for a briefing and tour at the Bayport Container Terminal.

Ricardo Arias, trade development manager for Port Houston, highlighted the port’s history and provided an overview of the some of the port’s most recent projects, as well as some of the different commodities shipped through the port, including refrigerated cargo and plastic resins.

“Resins are the biggest factor for Houston exports,” Arias said.

Port Houston Director of Facility Planning Mark Griffin focused on the port’s latest channel developments and facility and infrastructure improvements.

Asian imports account for 41 percent of the port's global trade share. As the largest container port on the Gulf Coast, Port Houston has a myriad of import and export ocean services directly linking Asia to North America. 

Port Houston also has three weekly all-water services connecting East Asia to Houston via the Panama Canal. Direct all-water shipping to Houston has been a cost-effective way to bring Asian goods to and from the south central U.S, noted Arias.

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