Business Is Booming At Port Of Baltimore, Says Governor

BALTIMORE, MD – Maryland's state government announced Monday that more than 11 million tons of cargo passed through the Port of Baltimore's state-owned public marine terminals in the past fiscal year, setting a new record.

The second quarter of 2019, from April to June, also proved to be record setting, with the Port of Baltimore's public marine terminals handling 2,873,392 tons of cargo, according to a statement from the State of Maryland. That amount beat the previous quarterly high mark of 2,790,745 tons, set during the second quarter of 2018.

“The Port of Baltimore continues to demonstrate why it is one of Maryland's leading economic engines,” Gov. Larry Hogan said in the statement. “These records are directly attributed to the thousands of hardworking men and women who support this incredible state asset each and every day.”

Among the nation’s ports, the Port of Baltimore ranks first for autos and light trucks, roll-on/roll-off heavy farm and construction machinery, imported sugar and imported gypsum. It ranks 11th among major U.S. ports for cargo handled and ninth nationally for total cargo value.

The 11,001,234 tons handled in the last fiscal year surpassed the previous mark of 10,969,308 tons set in fiscal 2018, according to the statement. The latest records follow new monthly benchmarks set in March for general cargo (1,018,274 tons), the most 20-foot containers handled (95,862), and most cars and light trucks handled in a month (59,052).

Biggest Ship Ever

The 2019 figures were boosted by the May visit of the largest ship ever to arrive at the Port of Baltimore, the Evergreen Titan, with a capacity of 14,424 Twenty-foot Equivalent (TEU) containers.

"The Port of Baltimore is one of the few U.S. East Coast ports with the necessary water depth and infrastructure to accommodate the world’s largest container ships," the statement added.

A second deep berth is being planned by Ports America Chesapeake, which operates the port’s Seagirt Marine Terminal. It will allow the Port of Baltimore to handle two supersized ships simultaneously.

Construction of the 50-foot-deep berth is scheduled to begin later this year and is expected to be operational in 2021.

Setting Records

In 2018, a record 43 million tons of international cargo was handled by the combined state-owned public and privately-owned marine terminals at the port. The value of that cargo also was a benchmark: $59.7 billion.

Last year, the state-owned public terminals handled a record 10.9 million tons of general cargo and more than a million TEU containers. The port also handled a record 850,147 cars and light trucks in 2018, the most in the U.S. for the eighth consecutive year.

The Port of Baltimore generates about 15,330 direct jobs, with more than 139,180 jobs overall linked to its activities. The average salary for people with direct jobs at the port is 9.5 percent higher than the average annual wage in Maryland.

The port is responsible for nearly $3.3 billion in personal wages and salaries, $2.6 billion in business revenues and $395 million in state and local tax revenues.