Container volume at Port Houston surged in the first half of 2019, rising 12 percent compared to that period last year, as the facility won approval for a planned, $39.7 million expansion of its truck gates to handle the greater volumes.

The port's facilities have handled nearly 1.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) through the first half of 2019, driven by surging demand for imports and a robust export base driven by petrochemical and resin markets, the authority said Thursday.

Port Houston handles nearly 70 percent of all containers that move through the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and that share may rise yet further, following news in July that Maersk and MSC's "2M Alliance" had announced a Trans-Pacific all water service to call in Houston starting in mid-September, as its first port of call after crossing the Panama Canal.

The expanding numbers come after Houston saw container volume through the port grow by double digits in 2018, increasing 10 percent to a record 2.7 million TEU. And in July, the port dodged the threat of severe flooding when Hurricane Barry passed slightly to its east.

The port now plans to expand the truck gate at its Barbours Cut Container Terminal, following approval of a contract for the work by the Port Commission. The project consists of about 23 acres of new pavement at the existing Barbours Cut Terminal, along with construction of two new buildings and new electrical, drainage, and utilities.

Port Houston Sets Record on Container and Steel Volumes; Moves Forward on New Expansions. https://t.co/LHGIh9IFv3

— Port Houston (@Port_Houston) August 1, 2019