The Port of Virginia has registered its busiest August and the second most productive month ever recorded in its history by handling more than 307,000TEU.
More specifically, during the previous month, the port on the East Coast of the United States moved 307,023TEU, representing an increase of 24.1% over 2020, as well as a growth of 18.6% compared to the same month of 2018 which was the busiest August so far.
As for the number of the total containers transferred through the port, was 172,094 showing also a double-digit growth of 26.4%.
In the meantime, imports rose by 19.3% year-on-year, completing 144,226TEU, while exports reached 85,256TEU, which translates to an increase of 13.2%.
At the same time, the total rail boxes in the port of Virginia marked an increase of almost 33%, reaching 57,839. The inland port containers, however, were 2,974, showing a slight decrease of 3.2%.
“Our August volume would have been even stronger but there were some disruptions in the vessel schedule that are pushing some ship calls into September,” stated Stephen A. Edwards, CEO and executive director of Virginia Port Authority (VPA), who pointed out that the US port is nearing the height of peak season and do not anticipate a let-up before year’s end.
The advantage of the “Virginia model”, where the Virginia Port Authority is both the terminal owner and operator, “is keeping the port agile and providing measurable results to ocean carriers and cargo owners that are facing congestion and delays elsewhere,” claimed Edwards.
The VPA has four deep-water, multi-purpose cargo terminals and two inland terminals that are run by the VPA’s private operating company, Virginia International Terminals, LLC, and at the same time, the VPA owns and operates Hampton Roads Chassis Pool (HRCPII).
