U.S. Seaports Outlook Report
2020 U.S. INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH REPORT
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, U.S. seaports experienced a robust year in 2019 with increased twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) counts for both inbound and outbound traffic and minimal labor disputes.
In January of 2020, the U.S. signed a trade deal with China that imposed increased tariffs of as much as 25% on Chinese-made goods, prompting U.S. importers to increase sourcing in locations such as Southeast Asia. Despite this, overall trade volume increased — and then COVID-19 posed unprecedented challenges.
Most of the industrial markets surrounding the nine seaports featured in this report also performed well and include some of the strongest markets in the U.S. Combined, the markets reported an overall vacancy rate of just 4.5% at the end of the first quarter of 2020, lower than the national average of 5.1%.
Introduction
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Disclaimer: The information contained herein has been obtained from sources deemed reliable. While every reasonable effort has been made to ensure its accuracy, we cannot guarantee it. No responsibility is assumed for any inaccuracies. Readers are encouraged to consult their professional advisors prior to acting on any of the material contained in this report.
Copyright © 2020 Colliers International
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In 2019, nearly 1.9 million loaded TEUs were handled at the Port, the most on record and surpassing the record set in 2018 by 3.5%.
The Port of Charleston is seeing a lot of growth as we watch the Port become the ideal option for the cold/freezer chain business. Many cold storage 3PLS are looking for space to chill and freeze product as they move it through the Port.
Recent legislations including the U.S.-China Trade Deal and United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) affect the South Carolina industrial market with increased purchases of American products and tariff relief on Chinese products.
Port of
Charleston
South Carolina
Class I operators:
Main trading partners:
Terminals
2
Cranes
19
Berths
6
Post-panamax Cranes
19
depth
45’
Proposed
52’
TOTAL LOADED TEUs
Charleston
Houston
Long Beach
Los Angeles
Oakland
Seattle
Savannah
Virginia
New York and
New Jersey
Terminals
2
Cranes
41
Berths
30
Post-panamax Cranes
13
depth
45’
Proposed
45’
TOTAL LOADED TEUs
Class I operators:
Main trading partners:
The bright spot for the real estate in the port area has been the increase in space requirements for the “safety net” supply of goods in order to avoid supply inventories being so quickly exhausted as discovered when the pandemic broke.
The Port ranked sixth in the U.S. in terms of foreign waterborne tonnage, imports/exports and total tonnage handled.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently approved a $1 billion initiative to widen the Houston port channel, allowing marine terminals to handle two 14,000 TEU vessels at once. The project is expected to begin in 2021.
Texas
Houston
Port of
Terminals
6
Cranes
68
Berths
62
Post-panamax Cranes
68
depth
76’
Proposed
76’
TOTAL LOADED TEUs
Class I operators:
Main trading partners:
In May, the Port of Long Beach (POLB) saw the first uptick in container volume this year when cargo volume increased by 9.5% over May 2019.
The Port of Long Beach is in the final phase of the Middle Harbor Terminal Redevelopment Project – a 10-year construction program that will combine two aging shipping terminals into one of the world’s most advanced and greenest container terminals.
Total trade in 2019 amounted to $93 billion. From a TEU perspective, nearly 72% of the total loaded containerized volume at the POLB was from imports.
California
Long Beach
Port of
Terminals
9
Cranes
84
Berths
57
Post-panamax Cranes
72
depth
53’
Proposed
53’
TOTAL LOADED TEUs
Class I operators:
Main trading partners:
The Port of Los Angeles handled 6.5 million loaded TEUs in 2019, just shy of the record-setting 6.8 million loaded TEUs that passed through the Port in 2018.
In 2019, more than $128 billion worth of trade with China went into and out of the Port, representing nearly half of its total volume.
The majority of the total containerized volume coming through the Port of Los Angeles is from imports. At the end of 2019, 75.2% of loaded containers handled at the Port were imports.
California
Los Angeles
Port of
Terminals
6
Cranes
61
Berths
32
Post-panamax Cranes
47
depth
50’
Proposed
50’
TOTAL LOADED TEUs
Class I operators:
Main trading partners:
For the second consecutive year, the Port of New York and New Jersey handled more than seven million TEUs, a record for the Port.
The Port Authority completed the fourth ExpressRail facility in
June of 2019 at Port Jersey, completing the final piece of the Port’s intermodal rail network with facilities in Elizabeth and Newark, NJ, and Staten Island, NY.
2019 rail volumes exceeded the previous year by nearly 3% year over year with nearly 665,000 containers passing through the rail system in 2019. The Port has also invested $1.5 billion through 2024 to enhance port access by rail, which will include improvements such as an expanded roadway capacity and modernized intermodal rail service.
New York and
New Jersey
Ports of
Terminals
11
Cranes
47
Berths
23
Post-panamax Cranes
43
depth
50’
Proposed
50’
TOTAL LOADED TEUs
Class I operators:
Main trading partners:
The Northwest Seaport Alliance is amid a 10-year strategic plan to grow cargo volumes, create jobs and improve its financial performance. The plan includes developing and managing strategic terminals that are equipped to handle newer, larger container ships and the associated additional cargo.
In 2019, 3.8 million TEUs were handled at the ports, down just 0.6% year over year. The Northwest Seaport Alliance is one of the top ports for domestic shipping, handling 80% of total trade with Alaska.
The Puget Sound industrial market entered 2020 with positive momentum, however some softening is expected due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The market is poised to weather the storm better than most markets across the U.S. as established, high tech companies in the area ensures continued demand for space and employees.
seattle, washington
Seaport alliance
Northwest
Terminals
7
Cranes
34
Berths
18
Post-panamax Cranes
27
depth
50’
Proposed
50’
TOTAL LOADED TEUs
Class I operators:
Main trading partners:
Agricultural export tonnage has grown significantly at the Port of Oakland in the past five years. The result has transformed the Port’s trade profile, making Oakland a leading gateway to Asia — especially for California growers.
Total loaded containerized volume increased 2.3% year over year and, despite the emergence of COVID-19, year-to-date 2020 (through April) loaded volume is up nearly 0.5% over 2019.
The Port of Oakland’s recently developed Cool Port allows frozen and chilled products to be unloaded from rail cars and transloaded into marine containers in a temperature-controlled environment. The Cool Port is one of the largest on the West Coast.
California
Oakland
Port of
Terminals
2
Cranes
36
Berths
18
Post-panamax Cranes
26
depth
42’
Proposed
(Est. 2020)
47’
TOTAL LOADED TEUs
Class I operators:
Main trading partners:
The overall economic impact of the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) is substantial and far-reaching, including 439,220 jobs (9% of Georgia’s total employment) and $106 billion in sales (11% of Georgia’s total sales).
In 2019, the Georgia Ports Authority successfully completed the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Southeast In-Transit Cold Treatment Pilot Program to allow perishable products to reach consumers up to 5-7 days sooner, ensuring fresher products at grocery stores.
While a majority of the total containerized volume coming through the Port of Savannah in 2019 was from imports, the rate of exports is much higher than at the three larger ports in Los Angeles, Long Beach and New York/New Jersey, finishing 2019 with 40% of loaded TEUs coming from exports.
Georgia
Savannah
Port of
Select a Location
Terminals
4
Cranes
30
Berths
7
Post-panamax Cranes
27
depth
50’
Proposed (TBD)
55’
TOTAL LOADED TEUs
Class I operators:
Main trading partners:
Despite a nearly 10% year-to-date decline in TEUs in 2020, the Port of Virginia is poised to compete for and attract import and export business with $700 million in 2019 and 2020 container terminal modernization completed, increasing TEU capacity by 40%.
The Port of Virginia finished 2019 with nearly 2.3 million loaded containers handled — the Port’s highest level in a decade – outpacing the prior year by 1.2%.
The Port of Virginia has one of the top intermodal rail services in the country. A full 37% of all goods entering and exiting the Port of Virginia are handled by rail — the highest percentage of any port on the East Coast.
Virginia
Port of
Charleston
South Carolina
Port of
Texas
Houston
Port of
California
Long Beach
Port of
California
Los Angeles
Ports of
New York &
New Jersey
Northwest
Seattle, Washington
Seaport
Alliance
Port of
California
Oakland
Port of
Georgia
Savannah
Port of
Virginia
Download a pdf of the report
Download a pdf of the report
Terminals
4
Cranes
30
Berths
7
Post-panamax Cranes
27
depth
50’
Proposed (TBD)
55’
TOTAL LOADED TEUs
Class I operators:
Main trading partners:
Despite a nearly 10% year-to-date decline in TEUs in 2020, the Port of Virginia is poised to compete for and attract import and export business with $700 million in 2019 and 2020 container terminal modernization completed, increasing TEU capacity by 40%.
The Port of Virginia finished 2019 with nearly 2.3 million loaded containers handled — the Port’s highest level in a decade – outpacing the prior year by 1.2%.
The Port of Virginia has one of the top intermodal rail services in the country. A full 37% of all goods entering and exiting the Port of Virginia are handled by rail — the highest percentage of any port on the East Coast.
Virginia
Port of
Terminals
2
Cranes
36
Berths
18
Post-panamax Cranes
26
depth
42’
Proposed
(EST. 2020)
47’
TOTAL LOADED TEUs
Class I operators:
Main trading partners:
The overall economic impact of the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) is substantial and far-reaching, including 439,220 jobs (9% of Georgia’s total employment) and $106 billion in sales (11% of Georgia’s total sales).
In 2019, the Georgia Ports Authority successfully completed the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Southeast In-Transit Cold Treatment Pilot Program to allow perishable products to reach consumers up to 5-7 days sooner, ensuring fresher products at grocery stores.
While a majority of the total containerized volume coming through the Port of Savannah in 2019 was from imports, the rate of exports is much higher than at the three larger ports in Los Angeles, Long Beach and New York/New Jersey, finishing 2019 with 40% of loaded TEUs coming from exports.
Savannah
Port of
Georgia
Terminals
7
Cranes
34
Berths
18
Post-panamax Cranes
27
depth
50’
Proposed
50’
TOTAL LOADED TEUs
Class I operators:
Main trading partners:
Agricultural export tonnage has grown significantly at the Port of Oakland in the past five years. The result has transformed the Port’s trade profile, making Oakland a leading gateway to Asia — especially for California growers.
Total loaded containerized volume increased 2.3% year over year and, despite the emergence of COVID-19, year-to-date 2020 (through April) loaded volume is up nearly 0.5% over 2019.
The Port of Oakland’s recently developed Cool Port allows frozen and chilled products to be unloaded from rail cars and transloaded into marine containers in a temperature-controlled environment. The Cool Port is one of the largest on the West Coast.
Oakland
Port of
California
Terminals
11
Cranes
47
Berths
23
Post-panamax Cranes
43
depth
50’
Proposed
50’
TOTAL LOADED TEUs
Class I operators:
Main trading partners:
The Northwest Seaport Alliance is amid a 10-year strategic plan to grow cargo volumes, create jobs and improve its financial performance. The plan includes developing and managing strategic terminals that are equipped to handle newer, larger container ships and the associated additional cargo.
In 2019, 3.8 million TEUs were handled at the ports, down just 0.6% year over year. The Northwest Seaport Alliance is one of the top ports for domestic shipping, handling 80% of total trade with Alaska.
The Puget Sound industrial market entered 2020 with positive momentum, however some softening is expected due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The market is poised to weather the storm better than most markets across the U.S. as established, high tech companies in the area ensures continued demand for space and employees.
seaport alliance
Northwest
Seattle, Washington
Terminals
6
Cranes
61
Berths
32
Post-panamax Cranes
47
depth
50’
Proposed
50’
TOTAL LOADED TEUs
Class I operators:
Main trading partners:
For the second consecutive year, the Port of New York and New Jersey handled more than seven million TEUs, a record for the Port.
The Port Authority completed the fourth ExpressRail facility in June of 2019 at Port Jersey, completing the final piece of the Port’s intermodal rail network with facilities in Elizabeth and Newark, NJ, and Staten Island, NY.
2019 rail volumes exceeded the previous year by nearly 3% year over year with nearly 665,000 containers passing through the rail system in 2019. The Port has also invested $1.5 billion through 2024 to enhance port access by rail, which will include improvements such as an expanded roadway capacity and modernized intermodal rail service.
New York &
New Jersey
Port of
Terminals
9
Cranes
84
Berths
57
Post-panamax Cranes
72
depth
53’
Proposed
53’
TOTAL LOADED TEUs
Class I operators:
Main trading partners:
The Port of Los Angeles handled 6.5 million loaded TEUs in 2019, just shy of the record-setting 6.8 million loaded TEUs that passed through the Port in 2018.
In 2019, more than $128 billion worth of trade with China went into and out of the Port, representing nearly half of its total volume.
The majority of the total containerized volume coming through the Port of Los Angeles is from imports. At the end of 2019, 75.2% of loaded containers handled at the Port were imports.
Los Angeles
Port of
California
Terminals
6
Cranes
68
Berths
62
Post-panamax Cranes
68
depth
76’
Proposed
76’
TOTAL LOADED TEUs
Class I operators:
Main trading partners:
In May, the Port of Long Beach (POLB) saw the first uptick in container volume this year when cargo volume increased by 9.5% over May 2019.
The Port of Long Beach is in the final phase of the Middle Harbor Terminal Redevelopment Project – a 10-year construction program that will combine two aging shipping terminals into one of the world’s most advanced and greenest container terminals.
Total trade in 2019 amounted to $93 billion. From a TEU perspective, nearly 72% of the total loaded containerized volume at the POLB was from imports.
Long Beach
Port of
California
Terminals
2
Cranes
41
Berths
30
Post-panamax Cranes
13
depth
45’
Proposed
45’
TOTAL LOADED TEUs
Class I operators:
Main trading partners:
The bright spot for the real estate in the port area has been the increase in space requirements for the “safety net” supply of goods in order to avoid supply inventories being so quickly exhausted as discovered when the pandemic broke.
The Port ranked sixth in the U.S. in terms of foreign waterborne tonnage, imports/exports and total tonnage handled.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently approved a $1 billion initiative to widen the Houston port channel, allowing marine terminals to handle two 14,000 TEU vessels at once. The project is expected to begin in 2021.
Houston
Port of
Texas
Terminals
2
Cranes
19
Berths
6
Post-panamax Cranes
19
depth
45’
Proposed
52’
TOTAL LOADED TEUs
Class I operators:
Main trading partners:
In 2019, nearly 1.9 million loaded TEUs were handled at the Port, the most on record and surpassing the record set in 2018 by 3.5%.
The Port of Charleston is seeing a lot of growth as we watch the Port become the ideal option for the cold/freezer chain business. Many cold storage 3PLS are looking for space to chill and freeze product as they move it through the Port.
Recent legislations including the U.S.-China Trade Deal and United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) affect the South Carolina industrial market with increased purchases of American products and tariff relief on Chinese products.
Charleston
Port of
South Carolina