WASHINGTON: The Port of Virginia began its July-to-June fiscal year with another record-breaker. Last month, the port had its best July ever for cargo volume, handling 234,230 containers, as measured in standard 20-foot units or TEUs, a 7.5 percent gain from the same month a year earlier. For the first seven months of the calendar year, TEU volume is up 8.2 percent.
Import-loaded TEUs in July were up 9.1 percent, year over year, while export-loaded TEUs slipped 1.9 percent. Empty outbound TEUs were up 24.8 percent from the same month last year; empty inbound TEUs were down 20.5 percent. “The peak season is underway; we are seeing the large vessels with regularity and handling their corresponding cargo volumes safely and efficiently,” John Reinhart, CEO and executive director of the Virginia Port Authority, said in a statement. Total rail-container volume at the port last month slipped 0.2 percent, year over year, while truck-container volume surged 13 percent. For the first seven months of the calendar year, truck-container volume outpaced rail-container volume, 9.3 percent to 5.6 percent, year over year.
