Port Houston

Port of Houston — www.porthouston.com

Fairfield, Texas is approximately 160 miles from Port Houston and is the perfect location on I-45 to benefit as an inbound and outbound location to move, store and assemble products. Fairfield, Texas has a Triple Freeport Inventory Tax Exemption in place and is positioned to offer the most cost effective savings for companies that utilize the Port.

The Port of Houston is a 25-mile-long complex of nearly 200 private and public industrial terminals along the 52-mile-long Houston Ship Channel. The eight public terminals are owned, operated, managed or leased by the Port of Houston Authority and include the general cargo terminals at the Turning Basin, Care, Jacintoport, Woodhouse, and the Barbours Cut and Bayport container terminals. We’re the largest port on the Gulf Coast and the biggest port in Texas.

The port has been instrumental in the city of Houston’s development as a center of international trade. It is home to a multi-billion petrochemical complex, the largest in the nation and second largest in the world. Carrier services on all major trade lanes link Houston to international markets around the globe. The ship channel also intersects a very busy barge traffic lane, the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.

Centrally located on the Gulf Coast, Houston is a strategic gateway for cargo originating in or destined for the U.S. West and Midwest. Houston lies within close reach of one of the nation’s largest concentrations of 152 million consumers within 1,000 miles. Ample truck, rail and air connections allow shippers to economically transport their goods between Port Houston and inland points.

The port is vital to the local, state and national economy and the maintenance and improvements of the public facilities ensures its continued economic impacts. Keeping the port secure so that business can flow freely is also an essential responsibility. As the local sponsor of the Houston Ship Channel, the Port Authority plays an important role in the management and environmental stewardship of this important waterway.

2017 Statistical Highlights for the greater Port of Houston complex:

• 1st ranked U.S. port in foreign waterborne tonnage – 173 million short tons
• 2nd ranked U.S. port in total foreign and domestic waterborne tonnage – 260 million short tons
• 3rd ranked U.S. port in terms of total foreign cargo value
• 6th ranked U.S. container port by total TEUs
• Largest Gulf Coast container port, handling 68% of U.S. Gulf Coast container traffic
• Largest Texas port with 45% of market share by tonnage and 96% market share in containers

Sources: USACE Navigation Data Center (facts 1,2), U.S. Dept. of Commerce Bureau of Census, Customs Data from Census Bureau (fact 3), Journal of Commerce PIERS (facts 4 and 5), American Association of Port Authorities (fact 6).

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Port Houston’s Economic Development department works collaboratively with economic development corporations and organizations to attract and retain businesses that use the port’s facilities to import and export. The port’s economic development team has connected relationships with more than fifty different local and regional Economic Development groups as well as the state-level Governor’s Office for Economic Development.