The Alabama Port Authority wrapped up a year of monthly container cargo records with a new annual cargo handling record — 563,191 twenty-foot equivalent container units (TEUs). It’s the first time the port has handled more than 560,000 TEUs.
The 11% increase is the 9th time since 2009 that the port has recorded double-digit growth.
The container terminal also handled 312 ships, 75 more than the previous year.
“Time and again, we are showing that shipping through Mobile is an efficient and cost-effective way for businesses to get their goods into or out of the United States,” said Port Authority Director and CEO John C. Driscoll. “These numbers reflect shippers’ confidence in Alabama’s Port, and Mobile has consistently offered supply chain stability.”
The container cargo facilities at the port are in the midst a multiphase expansion that will increase its capacity to 1 million TEUs annually. Other key projects at the port, all slated for completion by 2025, include deepening and widening channels to handle bigger vessels and adding an intermodal container facility in Montgomery with direct CSX rail access to and from the port in Mobile. Also in the works are a fly-over bridge to provide on-dock rail access at the container terminal, modernizing general cargo piers and developing an inland intermodal facility in North Alabama.
“With proven fluidity, the Port of Mobile continues to attract new routes, creating more direct services from the Far East to Mobile and enhancing our gateway’s connection to growing global markets,” said Chief Commercial Officer Beth Branch.
An economic impact report written before the record-breaking 2022 numbers indicated that the Port of Mobile has an $85 billion annual economic impact on the state.
