Port of Brownsville ranked 41st in nation in moving waterborne cargo

The Port of Brownsville ranked 41st among the nation’s top 150 maritime ports in terms of waterborne cargo handled in 2023, according to the most recent annual report from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The port, celebrating its 89th anniversary announced the news last Friday. The USACE reported that the port’s waterways moved more than 11.2 million tons of cargo for 2023, a 23% increase over the previous year’s figure of 9.1 million tons. With the latest tally, the port moves from 50th to 41st, its highest ranking to date.

Esteban Guerra, chairman of the Brownsville Navigation District (BND), which governs the port, called it a “significant achievement for the port and our entire community.”

“It is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of our staff, our stakeholders and my fellow board members,” he said. “We’ve made great strides and there’s more to come in advancing our region’s economic vitality.”

The port saw a 46% increase in vessel traffic over the period, with 2,561 vessel calls in 2023 compared to 1,754 the previous year. The major commodities driving growth at the port include steel, liquid bulk products, aggregates and “project cargo” such as wind turbine components, of which the port handles many.

Brownsville’s port handles more steel being shipped to Mexico than any other U.S. port and is home to “premier energy, shipbuilding and ship recycling industries,” according to BND.

Meanwhile, a number of infrastructure improvements are underway with an eye toward increasing the port’s capacity for driving economic development in the region. Among these is the Brazos Island Harbor Channel Improvement project, which will deepen the 17-mile-long Brownsville Ship Channel to 52 feet from its current depth of 42 feet.

This project, which BND had been pursuing for decades, will allow the port to accommodate today’s larger cargo vessels to stay competitive, further job creation and improve navigational safety. The deepening project, phase one of which is being paid for by Rio Grande LNG parent company NextDecade, is expected to be complete next year.

Rio Grande LNG, now under construction on 984 acres along the ship channel, is “transforming the port’s landscape,” according to BND, which noted that the project has generated thousands of jobs, contributed millions of dollars worth of economic impact for the Rio Grande Valley, and is the largest privately funded project in the state.

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