#133 – Inside Our Industry – Port of Mobile Sets Record in 2022
Posted on | Inside Our Industry
Over the past couple of years, we have shared information about port activity, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 slowdowns/shutdowns. While import activity looks to be returning to pre-pandemic levels, some ports are setting records.
Port of Mobile Sets Record in 2022
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.
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.
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.