The latest data from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers confirms the St. Louis region’s ports remain the most efficient inland port system in the nation based on tons moved per river mile. The data ranks the St. Louis Metro Port system fourth in total tonnage and first in efficiency among the seven inland statistical port areas compared.
In 2024, the 70-mile St. Louis Metro Port handled 24.8 million tons of cargo. The system moved 354,286 tons per river mile, more than twice the amount moved per mile by each of the three port districts that handled more total tonnage. That same year, the St. Louis system moved more than 10 times the average of 31,072 tons per mile handled by the other three inland port districts.
“Maintaining our position as the nation’s most efficient inland port is especially significant because efficiency translates directly into value for shippers and carriers,” said Mary Lamie, Executive Vice President of Multimodal Enterprises for Bi-State Development and head of the St. Louis Regional Freightway. “Our ports continue to invest in the infrastructure, equipment and multimodal connections needed to increase capacity, streamline the movement of freight and support the region’s competitiveness as a global logistics hub.”
Agribusiness and Multimodal Connectivity
The St. Louis Regional Freightway is a regional freight district that works to enhance and optimize the region’s freight network and strengthen modal flexibility, while raising awareness about the global connectivity the St. Louis region offers. Fifty percent of U.S. crops and livestock are produced within a 500-mile radius of the St. Louis region, including approximately 80% of the country’s corn and soybean acreage. A significant percentage of those commodities has consistently been handled by the St. Louis region’s ports. At the center of the region’s agricultural freight activity is a 15-mile stretch of the Mississippi River known as the Ag Coast of America. It is home to 16 barge-transfer facilities that collectively can handle more than 150 barges per day at full capacity.
Ongoing investments at several of the region’s individual ports are helping sustain that efficiency advantage while creating new opportunities for tenants, shippers and industrial development.
America’s Central Port
America's Central Port District continues to attract new tenants and users to the port and has been especially successful in teeing up expansion opportunities with existing tenants, with two sizeable expansions expected to be announced in the next few months. Recent improvements include a new 80,000-bushel grain bin at Madison Harbor and upgrades to rail, roads, warehouses and dock facilities. Completed in 2025, the port’s latest master plan identifies a total of 60 waterside and landside projects, with four completed and 10 in planning or design. Beyond the Madison Harbor Terminal improvements, the other completed projects include West 7th and C Street Reconstruction, Building 203 Redevelopment – Phase II, and Mid-Coast Rail Yard Track Expansion. A truck staging and calling lot is under construction to relieve roadway and terminal congestion, the new conveyor and mooring cells at the grain byproducts terminal are nearly complete, and a $5 million expansion of the Granite City General Cargo Dock will be underway soon.
“America’s Central Port continues to invest our resources, along with federal and state grant funding, to upgrade our assets and make our facilities more efficient,” said Dennis Wilmsmeyer, Executive Director of America’s Central Port. “The projects completed through our master plan, combined with tenant expansions and additional improvements now in planning and design, are positioning the port to support continued growth and provide even greater value to the businesses that depend on our multimodal infrastructure. We are building for speed and efficiency.”
St. Louis City Port Authority
The St. Louis City Port Authority manages approximately 45 leases with shippers and carriers along the city’s 19-mile riverfront and owns the Municipal River Terminal, where SCF Terminals continues to upgrade rail capabilities. The Port Authority is also preparing an 11.6-acre site on the south riverfront for future multimodal development.
“Continued rail improvements at the Municipal River Terminal and the future availability of a development site on the south riverfront that has both rail service from Union Pacific and direct access to Interstate 55 will help us strengthen existing operations while creating new opportunities for investment and freight movement,” said Susan Taylor, Director of the St. Louis City Port Authority.
Jefferson County Port Authority
The Jefferson County Port Authority is investing in equipment and infrastructure to improve operations and accommodate additional business. A new material handler has reduced loading time by more than half, while a $186,000 state grant is helping fund another loader. Construction is also underway on a new port entrance road, and the Port Authority is participating in a container-on-vessel (COV) feasibility study.
“We are working with several stakeholders on this COV process – other ports and a large coalition of individuals who are very interested in getting this project off the ground – so that they can use this method of transport for a faster, more economical process,” said Cyndi Buchheit-Courtway, Executive Director of the Jefferson County Port Authority. “Our new equipment, improved road access and work to advance container-on-vessel service will position us to support future growth.”
Southwest Regional Port District/Kaskaskia Regional Port District
Southwest Regional Port District, which was responsible for movement of 7.3 million tons of the commodities flowing through the St. Louis Port system in 2024, was integrated into the Kaskaskia Regional Port District in January 2026. Though not included in the USACE definition or 24.8-million-ton total for the St. Louis Metro Port in 2024, the Kaskaskia Regional Port District separately handled 6.4 million tons that year and its expanded footprint should provide opportunities for future growth and development along the Mississippi River system. Current investments include a $10 million rail improvement project at KRPD #1 in New Athens, Ill., and a nearly $16.25 million combined federal and state investment in the KRPD #2 South Dock project in Red Bud, Ill.
“KRPD is in a period of significant growth and investment,” said Brent Donovan, IMPE, General Manager of the Kaskaskia Regional Port District. “We are making improvements across the district that increase capacity and efficiency, but more importantly, position our facilities to attract private investment and create new economic opportunities.”
The continued investments across the region’s ports complement improvements underway throughout the broader freight network, helping ensure the region continues to offer shippers and carriers efficient access to domestic and global markets.
