The Texas Ports Association contracted Martin Associates to estimate the economic impacts generated by marine cargo transiting Texas’ marine terminals, including marine terminals owned by the public port authorities within the state; the private terminals owned by petroleum and petrochemical companies; the privately-owned barge facilities; and the privately-owned break bulk and dry bulk facilities located within the defined port and navigation districts.
The Study’s purpose is to quantify the economic benefits of the maritime cargo terminals located within Texas and does not include the measurement of the net impacts of the Texas port system. The economic impacts of cruise, marina activity and commercial fishing were also examined and is presented separately from the maritime cargo impacts.
This study captures the impact of the 746.4 million tons that was handled at these ports and marine terminals in 2023.
$640 million investment in port infrastructure over the last 2 years supports a return to the state of $53.46 in state and local tax revenue for each dollar of state investment on an annual basis
The methodology used in this analysis has been developed by Martin Associates and has
been used to measure the economic impacts of seaport activity at public and private
marine terminals of more than 1,100 United States and Canadian ports. The state-wide
impacts are measured for calendar year 2023 and include the following ports and
navigation districts:
In addition, Martin Associates conducted detailed telephone interviews, as well as email
communication with the marine terminal operators, stevedores, service providers, port
tenants, and privately-owned terminals, etc. at each of these ports in order to develop
individual port sensitivity models. These models allow for testing of the sensitivity of
impacts due to changes in port activity such as tonnage levels by commodity, labor
productivity and work rules, vessel call levels, vessel size and mix of vessel types, inland
modal distribution patterns by commodity, and navigational and infrastructure projects.
Marine cargo activity at the terminals supported $196.7 billion of total personal wage and
salary income and local consumption expenditures for Texas residents. This includes
$62.2 billion of direct, indirect, induced and local consumption expenditures, while the
remaining $134.5 billion was received by the employees of related port users.
JOB IMPACTS
Of the 153,840 direct jobs, the largest job impacts are with terminal operators (including
employees of petroleum and chemical facilities dependent on the ability to receive
materials and ship product by vessel or barge), followed by shippers that are dependent
upon cargo moving via the marine terminals. Jobs generated with the trucking industry
serving the ports is the third largest employment impact category, followed by jobs with
maritime services, marine construction and ship repair.
In calendar year 2023, jobs generated by the receipt of crude petroleum and shipment and
receipt of petroleum and petroleum products generated the largest number of direct jobs,
followed by the handling of other liquid bulk cargoes. The majority of these jobs are with
petrochemical firms and refineries. The jobs are directly dependent upon the shipment
and receipt of chemicals, petroleum and petroleum products via these ports.
Containerized cargo created the third largest direct job impact and the majority of these
jobs are with trucking firms, warehouse/container repair, members of the International
Longshoremen Association, dependent shippers/consignees and associated distribution
centers.
ADDITIONAL IMPACTS
The following economic impacts were not included in the previous marine cargo statistics.
Cruise Passenger Activity: In calendar year 2023, 354 cruise vessel calls were recorded in
the state of Texas, carrying 2,979,275 passengers (embarking and debarking). This cruise
passenger activity supported nearly 4,600 direct, induced and indirect jobs in the state of
Texas.
Commercial Fishing and Marina Activity: An additional 300 direct, induced and indirect
jobs were generated in calendar year 2023 for commercial fishing and marina activity at
these marine ports in the state of Texas. These jobs earned approximately $15.1 million in
total personal income and generated an estimated $70.2 million in business revenue. $1.3
million of state and local tax revenue was collected.
COMPARISON OF CARGO IMPACTS 2018 - 2023
The last economic impact study conducted for the Texas Ports Association was conducted
by Martin Associates in 2019, using 2018 cargo data. Direct comparisons can be made since the same methodology was used in both studies. Since 2018, total tonnage handled by the public and private marine terminals increased by 130.3 million tons. As a result of this growth in tonnage, the total number of jobs supported by the marine cargo activity within the state of Texas increased by 728,741 jobs since 2018. Total economic value of the Texas marine cargo activity grew from $449.6 billion in 2018 to $713.9 billion in 2023, and the contribution of the Texas ports to the state's GDP grew from 25% in 2018 to 28% in 2023. The growth in direct and induced jobs reflects the large growth in tonnage being handled (130.3 million tons), the re-spending multiplier within the state of Texas, as well as the growth in the average annual salary received by the directly employed workers (from
$67,611 in 2018 to $81,845 in 2023). State and local taxes supported by the port activity
grew by $9.3 billion since 2018.
SUMMARY
This Study reveals that the marine cargo and vessel activity at the public and privately owned marine terminals located in the state of Texas provide a major economic engine
to the Texas economy. In order to maintain and grow this economic contribution, it is
essential that the investment in capital infrastructure supporting the terminals continues
to be a key priority in state and national policy. This includes projects such as navigational
channel maintenance and expansion to accommodate the growing size of liquid bulk and
container vessels.
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