A Message From Executive Director, Roger Guenther

It was an impressive sight to see three new ship-to-shore cranes aboard a vessel sailing toward our Bayport Container Terminal and then pulling up… to the dock! As we continue to expand, this state-of-the-art equipment is a critical component toward building Port Houston for the future. We look forward to these cranes being commissioned for operation soon.

We also just received five more new rubber-tired gantry cranes, along with the five RTGs that were delivered in early August. As a result, the total number of RTG cranes in operation at the Bayport Container Terminal has increased to 48.

At Port Houston, we moved 1.3 million container TEUs through six months, growing 6% compared to 2017. Additionally, there is continued strength in steel trade, mainly import pipe, of 2.1 million tons, which was up 21 % over last year. Indications for now are that we should see continued growth.

As an indicator of continued growth in container activity, we have broken record after record at our Bayport terminal. The latest operation featured 5,711 box lifts, the most in our history on one vessel call. These ships serving the East Asia market would not have called Port facilities without the expansion of the Panama Canal, or without the investments we have once again made in deepening and widening our Bayport channel or the investment in the equipment to handle this class of ships. This operation was

accomplished at a very productive rate through the continued partnership of our Port Houston operations personnel, our stevedoring partner and the skilled labor group we rely on each day.

Financially, the first half of 2018 was very strong given these operational successes, with operating revenues of $179 million. In fact, we set two monthly revenue records in the first half of 2018, with a new record in March being broken two months later with May revenues over $32 million. Each sector of our business experienced revenue growth in the first half, led by the volume increases of our container business. And reinvestment into our facilities using the cash generated through our operations also continues. At the July Port Commission meeting alone, more than $70 million in capital project awards and advertisements were approved to keep commerce moving through Port Houston to maintain capacity for the high demand ahead.

We are READY.