Port traffic remains steady in February

Container traffic at the Port of Virginia remained steady with February 2016.

The port said it moved 220,376 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in February, which was 351 TEUs lower than February 2016.

Last year was a leap year, with February having 29 days.

For the 2017 fiscal year, however, growth at the port is up 6.9 percent.

“February 2016 was 29 days long versus 28, so our cargo flows remain consistent with a good balance in our export-import trade,” John F. Reinhart, CEO and executive director of the Virginia Port Authority, said in a statement. “We are preparing for a period of significant activity as the new alliance vessel calls begin in April and the construction work begins to progress.”

The port said engineering and survey work on its capacity expansion plan at the Virginia International Gateway terminal has begun and work at the expansion at Norfolk International terminals will begin this summer.

February cargo snapshot
• Loaded exports – 85,827 up 4.6 percent
• Loaded Imports – 96,921 down 3.0 percent
• Containers – 124,607 up 0.1 percent
• Rail containers – 45,044 down 1.8 percent
• Barge containers – 3,913 up 36.2 percent
• Truck containers – 75,650 down 0.1 percent
• Richmond Marine Terminal containers – 1,748 up 56 percent