Port Houston posts record January container volume as exports, resins fuel growth

Port Houston opened 2026 with its busiest January on record for containers, driven by growth in petrochemical exports, resin packaging capacity and refrigerated cargo moving through the Houston Ship Channel.

The port handled 370,034 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in January, a 4% increase from the same month last year and the largest January total on record.

Loaded imports and loaded exports each rose 5% year over year, with petrochemical products and resins continuing to anchor outbound container volumes.

During the Feb. 19 Port Commission meeting, port leadership emphasized the strong start across the broader channel.

“January started off strong. Vessel volumes for the entire port are up 2% versus last year, which was a good year last year,” Ryan Mariacher, chief port operations officer told commissioners during a commission meeting on Tuesday.

Mariacher said January was the busiest January on record for containers, with over 370,000 TEUs handled and growth at both Bayport and Barbours Cut container terminals.

Resin exports and cold-chain lift volumes

Port Houston handles about 60% of U.S. resin exports, a share expected to expand as new packaging capacity comes online.

Phase I of Packwell’s new 725,000-square-foot resin packaging facility near Bayport Container Terminal was recently completed, adding rail-served unloading, high-speed packaging equipment and warehousing adjacent to the marine terminal complex.

Port officials say the added capacity should reduce costs and strengthen connectivity to global carrier services.

Refrigerated container traffic has also been trending upward. Reefer volumes rose 13% in 2025, supported by established cold-chain infrastructure and USDA-APHIS cold-treatment certification that allows certain perishable shipments to complete treatment while in transit.

Commercial leaders told commissioners there has been a “considerable uptick in demand” from retail customers for refrigerated imports and exports.

Truck, vessel and total tonnage growth

CEO Charlie Jenkins said demand is translating into activity across terminals and along the channel.

“We’re seeing solid demand across both of our public container terminals and a wide range of cargo moving through the Houston gateway. That demand is showing up across our operations, including a record single-day total of 16,438 truck transactions at our container terminals in January,” Jenkins said.

He added that vessel movements along the Houston Ship Channel are off to a steady start in 2026, with arrivals up 2%.

Across all cargo categories, Port Houston handled 4.5 million short tons in January, a 6% increase compared to the same month last year.

General cargo volumes increased 27% during the month, while steel imports declined 35% to 213,653 short tons, reflecting softer drilling activity tied to the Baker Hughes rig count.

Corpus Christi crude slides, but total cargo climbs

Elsewhere along the Texas coast, the Port of Corpus Christi reported mixed energy volumes but overall cargo growth in January.

The port recorded 18 million tons of total freight in January, up 6.5% year over year compared to the same period in 2025.

Crude oil shipments fell 9.5% to 10.46 million tons, with exports declining 10% to 9.8 million tons. However, petroleum shipments climbed 28% to 5.9 million tons, with exports rising 36% to 4.6 million tons.

Dry bulk cargo increased 40% to 782,371 tons. Bulk grain movements surged 5,443%, consisting of one outbound shipment of 432,754 tons in January. Chemical bulk cargo jumped 55% to 312,584 tons.

The port handled 402 barge calls in January, up 2% year over year, while ship calls increased 18% to 224.

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