Port posts record quarter with 2.8M tons of cargo

The port of Baltimore handled a record 2.8 million tons of general cargo and containers in the first three months of 2018, according to the Maryland Port Administration, the port’s best quarter in its history. The general cargo volume was 8 percent higher than in the first quarter of 2017, when the port handled more than 2.5 million tons of cargo, the port administration said. The port saw a 14 percent increase in container volume — handling 156,991 containers — over that same time period. The port’s public marine terminals handled more than 1 million 20-foot equivalent unit containers in the 12 months ending April 30 for the first time in any 12-month period, the port administration said. The gains follow a record year for the port’s public and private marine terminals, in which the port handled 38.4 million tons of general cargo, the third highest total in its history. “The Port of Baltimore has firmly established its reputation as a leading economic engine for Maryland, with its best quarter in over three centuries,” Gov. Larry Hogan said in a statement. —