By Eric Huang        Photo：Kristina Gain

The Port of NYNJ, also known as the Port of New York and New Jersey,, is the busiest port in the United States in 2023. It is located on the east coast of the United States and serves the New York City metropolitan area, the largest consumer market in the world. The port handles a wide variety of cargo, including containerized cargo, vehicles, and bulk cargo such as petroleum and chemicals. West Coast ports, on the other hand, include those in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, and Seattle-Tacoma. These ports are the main gateways for trade with Asia, especially China traditionally. Competition between the Port of NYNJ and West Coast ports is fierce, with each trying to attract more cargo and shipping lines. Factors that affect a port's competitiveness include location, efficiency, infrastructure, and labor costs.

During the pandemic, due to the serious congestion of the USWC ports, importers began to divert the goods to the USEC ports to enter the United States, so that the goods from Asia and China can be delivered to the consignees smoothly. For the months from August 2022 to November 2022, the Port of NYNJ will outpace its competitors in the West for the first time in throughput. In August and September, NYNJ handled more than 840,000 20-foot equivalent units per month, which dropped to 792,548 and 723,069 in October and November, respectively. This also makes the Port of NYNJ the title of the busiest seaport in the United States for the first time. In 2022, the Port of NYNJ has handled nearly 9.5 million TEUs, the highest annual volume in its history. By comparison, Los Angeles surpassed 9.9 million TEUs, but the Port of NYNJ beat Long Beach, which totaled more than 9.1 million TEUs.

In the post-epidemic period, the Port of NYNJ actively cleared its empty container inventory. So far this year, their empty container removals have reached 390,000 TEUs. Port officials emphasized that the evacuation of empty containers will help improve seaport operations and liquidity, ensuring more container terminal space for import cargo to be processed quickly at the port in the future. Last year the Port Authority of NYNJ has announced plans to impose imbalance charges on carriers that offload more containers than they remove, in an effort to reduce the backlog of empty containers that they say is contributing to terminal congestion. Although February is historically a low season for U.S. ports, the Port of NYNJ managed to move 571,177 TEUs cargo in February, surpassing those on the West Coast, for example, by 83,000 TEUs more than the Port of Los Angeles. It also increased the volume of more than 27,000 TEUs than the Long Beach Port, and once again took the throne of the busiest seaport in the United States.

“The Port of New York and New Jersey is again No. 1 in the nation,” said Port Authority Chairman Kevin O’Toole. “After years of unprecedented cargo growth, we are using this traditionally slow period to work with our port stakeholders who need to increase capacity throughout the regional supply chain. We expect a stronger second half of the year, as we have been in discussions with many importers that shifted volume to us from elsewhere and are now committed to keeping that volume in our gateway.” Rick Cotton, Executive Director of the Port Authority, also praised 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.”

The Port Authority of NYNJ expects its throughput to continue to grow due to strong demand on East Coast routes and major shipping lines sending larger ships to ports on the eastern seaboard of the United States. However, if the Port of NYNJ wants to maintain its leading position in the United States, it needs to increase the capacity and efficiency of the port through continuous investment and innovation to meet the growing demand for freight.

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