Cargo worked at the Port of Greater Baton Rouge’s public docks in 2014 more than doubled over 2013, according to year-end statistics from the port.
In 2014, the port handled more than 9.2 million tons of cargo, an increase of more than 100% over the 4.2 million tons that passed through in 2013. Officials with the port attribute the growth to a new grain elevator completed in late 2013 by Louis Dreyfus Commodities, a European grain exporter. The company operates the facility through a long-term lease but it is located on port-owned property, so it is considered part of the port’s public facilities.
“That’s really where the growth is coming from,” says Karen St. Cyr, spokesperson with the Port of Greater Baton Rouge. “You can look at the data and see how as soon as that facility came online, the numbers shot up.”
In 2013, the port handled some 577,600 tons of grain. In 2014, that figure had increased to 4.1 million tons. Activity at the port’s petroleum fuel terminal was also up last year, by about 44% over 2013, while cargo handled at its coke facility was up 36%.
The Port of New Orleans also had a record year, though for very different reasons. Its cargo hit a 14-year high of 8.37 million tons, a 28% increase over 2013. Port officials there attribute the growth to an increase in imported steel and container cargo.
Comparing the two ports’ cargo statistics can be misleading because they handle different types of cargo. The Port of New Orleans handles mostly general and containerized cargo, while the Port of Baton Rouge handles bulk cargo.
—Stephanie Riegel
