JULY 2026 BREAKBULK QUARTERLY 11 HEAVY LIFTING DONE RIGHT Our cargo-handling capabilities save time and money. Let the port that works be your gateway to North America and beyond. 1000 Foust Road, Brownsville, TX 78521 (956) 831-4592 • (800) 378-5395 portofbrownsville.com Steel trade closely watches Brownsville port’s channel deepening project After dredging, port can now accommodate larger vessels. By Manik Mehta, AJOT (PROJECT – continued on page 12) The Port of Brownsville, a deepwater seaport in Brownsville at the southernmost tip of Texas and connected to the Gulf of Mexico by a 17-mile-long ship channel, is crucially important for steel trans- portation; consequently, the US steel industry has been closely following the completion of the port’s channel deepening project. The steel industry’s interest was also evident at the recent Global Steel Dynamics Forum (GSDF) 2026, held in New York City, where Port of Browns- ville had set up a booth to inform, and answer ques- tions from participants at the event. With the completion of the port’s dredging work, which was celebrated with an official ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 25, 2026, port officials said that the port can now accommodate the larger post-Pan- amax vessels while also strengthening its position as a major gateway for liquid and bulk commodities at the Texas Gulf Coast. The Brownsville Navigation District (BND), the port operating agency, had the Brownsville Ship Channel deepened to 54 feet and its main channel to 52, adding approximately 10 feet of depth to each facility. The $295 million project was completed in partnership with the US Army Corps of Engineers and liquefied natural gas producer NextDecade, the project’s federal and private sponsors. This would reduce transit times and increase the port’s capacity for larger cargo volumes. According to port sources, there are plans to invest an additional $50 million in carrying out landslide infrastructure improvements aimed at sustaining future growth; the dredging work would benefit the port’s main cargo sectors, particularly bulk and energy shipments. While bulk carriers and general cargo vessels were the mainstay of the port’s traffic last year, with such vessels account- ing for 195 of the port’s 292 deep-sea vessel calls, or some 63% of the total weight tonnage handled, the port also handled significant refined petroleum and other energy exports. The port’s expansion comes at a time when the region is concentrating on energy-related develop- ment. Indeed, NextDecade is planning a 2027 startup for the first phase of its Rio Grande LNG export facil- ity in South Texas, while America First Refining has plans to build a new refinery in Brownsville. These two projects are aimed at boosting vessel traffic and reinforcing the port’s growing role in US energy exports and the Gulf Coast maritime trade. Mexico Is the Port’s Cargo-Growth Engine Guillermo Rico, Port of Brownsville’s director of business development and marketing, said in an interview with the American Journal of Transpor- tation at the GSDF 2026 in New York City, that 90% of the port’s maritime and logistics business is related to Mexico. “We receive materials from all over the world and ship these to Mexico. Of course, steel and alu- minum form a large chunk of our cargo traffic, but we also ship gasoline, diesel, lubricants, naphtha, etc. to Mexico. Furthermore, we get from Mexico heavy oil which is transported to Houston, Texas, where it is refined and then distributed in the United States,” Rico explained. Port officials say that Mexico remains the pri- mary engine behind Brownsville’s cargo growth. Total cargo throughput increased from 11 million tons in 2020 to 28 million tons in 2024; volumes are projected to reach between 30 million and 32 million tons by end 2026. According to Rico, increased movement of steel and aluminum connected with Mexican indus- try has played a major role in that growth. “This (growth) is happening mainly because of Mexico, as both steel and aluminum traffic has grown sig- nificantly,” he said. Steel imports from Mexico attract 20% tariff rate. He referred to Brownsville Navigation District as a “city by itself”, with a 40,000-acre large industrial Guillermo Rico, Port of Brownsville’s director of business development and marketing for cargo use. The grant through the Port Infrastruc- ture Development Program will be supplemented by $10.8 million in secured state and local funding. “We’re excited about the progress in revitaliz- ing a dilapidated facility that we hope to have ready to handle future commodities by 2030-31,” says Jayson Hron, the Duluth Seaway Port Authority’s director of communications and marketing. “This (PIVOT – continued on page 14) (PIVOT – continued from page 10) Tugboat Meredith Ashton and a deck barge loaded with project cargo became the first vessel in decades to dock at the rebuilt northeast-facing Berth 10 at the Duluth Seaway Port Authority’s Clure Public Marine Terminal.
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