In 2011, Baltimore was ranked 11th among 360 U.S. ports for dollar value of cargo and 12th for tonnage, according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics.
Cargo volume at the port of Baltimore grew 15 percent last year, the largest increase of any major U.S. port, state officials announced.
The port’s public and private terminals moved 37.8 million tons of goods from cars to coal in 2011. It all was valued at more than $51.4 billion, a 24 percent increase over 2010.
Longshoremen at the six public terminals managed by the administration set volume records in processing autos, wood pulp and containers. The export coal volume at the port’s private terminals surged 38.5 percent to 19.2 million tons in 2011. Those facilities also exported 20.4 million tons of other cargo, a 39 percent increase.
The first ship from the Hapag-Lloyd AG fleet arrived in February, a connection that is expected to increase the port’s container traffic by roughly 10 percent.