The Port of Corpus Christi has taken its first step toward building a new container terminal with the goal of handling one million TEUs, according to Jeffrey Pollack, Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer of the Port of Corpus Christi Authority (PCCA).
Pollack spoke to AJOT at the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) Annual Convention in New Orleans on September 29, where he said: “We’ve signed a lease option agreement with DP World for a development … of a container terminal in the Port.”
In June, DP World entered into an exclusive negotiation agreement for a long-term lease to develop and operate a container terminal at the Port of Corpus Christi. The agreement marks a key step toward expanding containerized cargo capabilities at one of the United States’ busiest ports, positioning Corpus Christi to capture new trade flows and support economic growth as demand for port capacity across Texas continues to rise, the Port said.
DP World handles approximately 10% of global container traffic each year through a network of more than 60 ports and terminals worldwide. Under the proposed development, DP World would design, build and operate a new container terminal, expanding capacity and strengthening supply chain connectivity across the Gulf Coast. DP World would work closely with local labor and workforce partners to support terminal operations and long-term job creation in the region.
Brian Enright, Chief Executive Officer of DP World in the Americas, said, “The US Gulf Coast is one of the nation’s most important trade and economic corridors, and demand for efficient, resilient port infrastructure continues to grow. The Port of Corpus Christi presents a significant opportunity to expand container capacity, strengthen supply chain connectivity, and create new pathways for American businesses to access global markets. The Port of Corpus Christi is a major gateway for US energy, agricultural, and industrial exports and consistently ranks among the nation’s largest ports by total tonnage. The introduction of container capabilities would diversify cargo operations and create new opportunities for regional businesses across South Texas.”
Kent Britton, Chief Executive Officer of the Port of Corpus Christi, said, “Completion of the landmark Corpus Christi Ship Channel Improvement Project in June 2025—thanks largely to investments by the federal government—has unlocked the potential for existing Port customers to meet evolving demands of the global marketplace while spurring additional cargo diversification. Entering into exclusive negotiations with DP World is another important step in our long-term strategy to expand the Port’s capabilities, deliver greater value to our customers, and ignite investment in the Coastal Bend.”
New 2,000-Acre Acquisition
Pollack noted that the Port has acquired 2,000 acres of land near the Port that could be used for manufacturing, importing, and exporting and would complement the new container terminal with DP World:
“So, we have acquired about 2,000 acres … eight to 10 miles as the crow flies south of our Inner Harbor. And we refer to it as our inland port. It’s a blank field today, but it provides access to all three Class I railroads that serve our Port. Access can be connected to multiple interstate highway systems. So, as a multimodal rail hub, it has tremendous potential to induce investment in associated industries and as a tremendous complement and value-added to a container terminal in the Inner Harbor, wherein you can imagine all sorts of supporting related manufacturing, warehousing and imports and exports …”
As a result of the onshoring of manufacturing to the United States, Pollack says the processing of cotton could be a new manufacturing possibility for the region:
“That inland port campus is a potential location for the kind of investment in cotton processing that we haven’t seen in this country and certainly in our region in decades.”
Expansion of LNG Exports
In February, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright signed an export authorization for a 12% expansion in exports at Cheniere Energy’s Corpus Christi liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal:
“The authorization allows additional exports of up to 0.47 billion cubic feet per day … of US natural gas as LNG to non-Free Trade Agreement [non-FTA] countries …”
Secretary Wright announced the export expansion approval during a visit to the terminal. He also highlighted the importance of US LNG exports and the recent 10th anniversary of the first cargo of US LNG from the Lower 48 states.
“In the last 10 years, American innovation and President Trump’s leadership transformed the United States into the world’s largest exporter of LNG,” said Secretary Wright. “This order helps further strengthen America’s LNG export capacity, delivering peace abroad and prosperity for Americans at home. I could not be prouder to be here today in Corpus Christi, standing alongside the American workers responsible for unleashing American energy dominance.”
Pollack told AJOT: “Cheniere is the largest producer of liquefied natural gas in the country. Their terminal in Corpus Christi is the second largest in the country by a thin margin. I think Sabine Pass is still the largest. Cheniere’s a fascinating company, and their growth trajectory ... especially in the face of geopolitical influences and events ... so, the sky’s the limit on their growth.
“We’re … very bullish on what LNG means as a staple export commodity in Corpus Christi … They’re [Cheniere] in the middle of what they term as their Phase Three expansion. As I understand it, they have ambition for a Phase Four expansion.”
Revival of Renewable Hydrogen Production?
While the Port will continue to emphasize fossil-fuel exports, it also has the capacity to support fuels such as hydrogen and potentially lower-carbon fuels such as methanol, which has been used to fuel a new container ship operated by Danish container carrier Maersk:
“We still believe that the Gulf Coast has very strong potential to be a producer and net exporter at world scale of hydrogen derivatives and especially … low-carbon-intensity hydrogen derivatives … produced either from gas feedstock coupled with carbon capture and sequestration, which the Gulf Coast has favorable geology to support, or renewable hydrogen turned into derivatives like ammonia … as well as synthetic fuels and methanol utilizing some of that captured CO2.
“So, I still believe, and I think many in our Port believe, that we are well positioned if and when the hydrogen value chain is ready, when that marketplace is ready for liftoff … [We] have … a unique combination of assets to leave us very well positioned to be competitive in … world-scale ammonia volumes, methanol volumes, for export just as … another hallmark of an expanding energy marketplace.”
He explained: “That does not supplant our trade in fossil energy but is very complementary to it. And in fact, many of the primes in the most viable of the hydrogen-ammonia projects are the household names in fossil energy.”
There are nearby solar and wind farms that could be deployed to produce hydrogen using those renewable energy sources:
“When we look at some of the owners of renewable assets in the hinterland in Texas, the potential to use those renewables to generate green hydrogen, so renewable hydrogen in a decentralized fashion where you would deploy electrolyzers wherever you already have wind and solar assets [and] could then move the hydrogen by centralized pipeline …”
Best First Half in Port History
In July, the Port announced that Port of Corpus Christi customers moved 55.8 million tons of commodities through the Corpus Christi Ship Channel during the second quarter of 2026, establishing the best quarter in the history of the Port. The record surpassed the previous quarterly high of 54.5 million tons set earlier this year, in the first quarter of 2026.
The Port said that the first six months of 2026 “also marked the best first half in Port history, with customers moving 110.3 million tons of commodities through the Corpus Christi Ship Channel, an increase of 7.7% over the previous record first-half total of 102.4 million tons recorded during the same period in 2025.”
Growth during the first half of 2026 was driven by strong performance across several commodity categories:
“Liquefied natural gas volumes increased 36.3% to 11.5 million tons, while agricultural commodities reached 2.1 million tons, compared to 189,000 tons during the first half of 2025. Refined products increased 8.9% to 17.1 million tons, other bulk liquids grew 11.7% to 8.2 million tons, and natural gas liquids volumes rose 18.4% to 914,606 tons. Crude oil shipments remained strong at 66.0 million tons, a 1.28% increase over the same period last year.”
However, the Port said that these gains “were partially offset by lower volumes in dry bulk commodities, which declined 7.3% to 4.2 million tons, and breakbulk cargo, which decreased 3.5% to 191,457 tons during the first half of the year.”
