November cargo volumes at the Port of New York and New Jersey were 7.5% higher than pre-COVID November 2019 but down 11% year over year and 13.2% from October.
The East Coast seaport moved 644,439 twenty-foot equivalent units in November, the port authority said Wednesday, compared with 723,069 TEUs in November 2022. The port authority also noted that October was the port’s busiest month for 2023 as retailers were preparing for the holiday shopping season.
Year-to-date volumes for loaded containers were over 4.8 million TEUs in November, which puts the port on the path as “the nation’s second busiest for loaded containers handled year-to-date,” it said. Total year-to-date volumes were nearly 7.2 million TEUs through November, which is 4.2% higher than the same period in 2019.
Port authority conducting road and rail capital projects to boost capacity
The continued high level of loaded containers at the Port of New York and New Jersey comes as the port authority announced late last month a $220 million project to upgrade road and ramps to the main artery at Port Newark. Port Newark, a container terminal that leases land through the Port of New York and New Jersey, processes more than 1.3 million TEUs annually, and plans are in place to add 1 million TEUs more in capacity there.
The port authority said Nov. 29 that it is beginning construction work on the $220 million Port Street Corridor Improvement project to redesign and rebuild Port Newark’s northern entrance at Port and Corbin streets. The project should be completed in 2028.
That interchange “serves as a crucial link to the New Jersey Turnpike and Interstate 78 and provides access to one of the Port Authority’s marine facilities that make up the largest and busiest cargo gateway on the East Coast,” the port authority said. “The redesign will feature a more efficient roadway configuration with a wider turning radius, allowing for safer trucking operations to and from the Port Newark complex. The improvements will additionally offer truck drivers significant time savings while they navigate the complex, enhancing efficiency and reliability across the supply chain as well as significantly reducing carbon emissions each year.”
The project was a July 2021 recipient of a $4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) program.
Other capital improvements to Port Newark include planned upgrades to the on-dock ExpressRail system, which should streamline train movements and reduce congestion during peak hours, the port authority said. This project, which connects major container terminals at the marine complex with CSX (NASDAQ: CSX) and Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) will be completed in 2027.
Both these projects are part of the port’s wider master plan to increase port capacity so that it can handle a forecast doubling or tripling of cargo volume by 2050.
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