Despite a traditionally slow period for US ports in February, the Port of New York and New Jersey managed to move 571,177 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of cargo in February, surpassing West Coast rivals such as the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach by more than 83,000 TEUs and 27,000 TEUs, respectively.
This comes after the Port of New York and New Jersey moved 645,430 TEUs in January, making it the second-busiest container port in the country behind the Port of Los Angeles, which moved 726,013 during the month.
The port has been particularly active in clearing out its empty container inventory, removing more than 390,000 TEUs so far this year. This has helped improve seaport operations and fluidity, ensuring that more container terminal space is available for imports to be processed more quickly in the future.
“The Port of New York and New Jersey is again No. 1 in the nation,” said Port Authority Chairman Kevin O’Toole.
Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton also lauded the port’s success, saying, “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.”