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 Perhaps the best way to view January’s tally
of ship calls is “whew!”. There were some impressive
gains over last month in the ports of Corpus Christi
(25%), Galveston (24%) and Houston (15%). Moreover,
most ports kicked off 2010 with higher vessels
counts than the first month of 2009. The big question
is whether the gains are attributable to inventory corrections
or a genuine uptick in demand.
As mentioned last month, there was a substantial
drop in chemical tanker movements most likely
due to tax considerations. That is, the lower the storage,
the lower the tax liability. Consequently, one
would expect a jump in chemical tank vessel movements
in January. Yet, a nearly 70% increase most
likely reflects more than beefing up inventories to
make up for the previous month’s low numbers. The
other vessel categories appear to bear this out as imported
steel increased by 32% in the port of Houston.
This was supported by the 30% increase in the number
of break bulk vessels that called on Houston.
Grain has also been quite strong in both the ports of
Houston and Galveston. Some of this is attributable
to the recent surge in USDA shipments bound for
Haiti.
 The tank vessel count in the port of Houston
was also up 9% despite less than favorable consumption
projections for the nation as a whole, however,
consistent mid –70 dollar a barrel oil has resulted in a
steady stream of crude into the refinery infrastructure.
Galveston, in particular, is reporting a sizable amount
of bulk liquid traffic into their largest tank facility.
Other areas in Galveston that experienced growth were
fertilizers, Ro-Ro cargo and an additional cruise ship
to meet the winter tourist demand.
By no means are we back to or approaching the
frenzied volumes of 2007 and 2008. Projections for
vehicle imports remain flat and there is still plenty of
near-empty storage facilities on the waterfront. Yet,
the pace seems to be picking up on the ship channel as
Buffalo Marine records three consecutive months of
high vessel utilization due to greater demand for bunkers.
Moreover, the spot market for tank barges has gone from cold to lukewarm and could bode well
for the year. Looking at the various pieces of the
marine transportation puzzle there is a sense that
the Gulf Coast is poised to break out of last year’s
economic doldrums. Nonetheless, businesses are
still cautious and wary of being disappointed if they
over commit resources to a false recovery.
 Look out for Tom’s
assessment and interpretation
of the vessel movement statistics
next month in this increasingly
popular economic article. Tom Marian can be reached at
Buffalo Marine Services here
in town and will be pleased to
discuss any of his conclusions.
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