Port of New York and New Jersey reclaims title as busiest U.S. port

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The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced Monday that it had reclaimed the title of the busiest port in the country.

The Port Authority said it moved the most cargo in February 2023 of all American ports and has moved more cargo year-to-date than any other port in the country. While February is traditionally a slow time of the year for U.S. ports, the Port Authority said it moved more than 571,000 TEUs during the month, exceeding the amount moved by the Port of Los Angeles by more than 83,000 TEUs, and the Port of Long Beach by more than 27,000 TEUs.

“The Port of New York and New Jersey is again No. 1 in the nation,” Port Authority Chairman Kevin O’Toole said. “After years of unprecedented cargo growth, we are using this traditionally slow period to work with our port stakeholders who need to increase capacity throughout the regional supply chain. We expect a stronger second half of the year, as we have been in discussions with many importers that shifted volume to us from elsewhere and are now committed to keeping that volume in our gateway.”

For the first two months of 2023, the port moved more than 1.2 million TEUs, the Port Authority said. In January, the Port Authority said the New York/New Jersey port moved more than 645,000 TEUs, making it the second busiest in the country. Officials said the port has been aggressively cleaning out its inventory of 390,000 empty containers, which improves seaport operations and helps the port process incoming imports quickly.

“The Port of New York and New Jersey’s return to the top spot as the nation’s busiest demonstrates the port’s continued reliability and consistency as other ports experienced uncertainty and challenges recently,” Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton said. “Shippers and retailers know they can rely on the Port of New York and New Jersey to move their cargo quickly month-in and month-out, and that trust is a result of our deep relationships and collaboration with all links in the regional supply chain.”

Between August and November of 2022, the Port of New York and New Jersey was the busiest in the country. Last year, the port handled nearly 9.5 million TEUs, the highest annual cargo amount in its history.