Logistics Management magazine named North Carolina’s Port of Wilmington number 18 on its list of U.S. Port Rankings for volume for the first quarter of 2012. The 42-foot channel deep water port realized 28,395 inbound twenty-foot equivalent units or TEUs for the quarter.
Container movements were up more than 11% in 2011 at North Carolina’s ports.
According to the Top 30 U.S. Ports article, U.S. exports are growing by a healthy five to six percent annually. North Carolina’s ports are certainly keeping pace. In a March press release, N.C. State Ports Authority announced increases for 2011 over 2010 figures in both container movements, which were up more than 11 percent; as well as general breakbulk cargo, which was up eight percent.
According to a February 20 report in The Journal of Commerce, North Carolina’s port growth contributed to an overall East Coast container trade volume increase of over five percent in the first 10 months of 2011 as compared to the same period in 2010. North Carolina’s 14.4 percent trade growth was the highest rate among the top-ten East Coast ports reported. The state was also one of six top-ten East Coast ports that showed 10-month growth in 2011 compared to 2008 in total trade, recording an impressive 52.6 percent increase.