The amount of cargo hauled at the Port of Baltimore topped nine million tons for the first time in 2006 in what was a record-breaking year, the Maryland Port Authority (MPA) reported.


Logistics Management Magazine reported that foreign general cargo at Baltimore's public and private terminals increased from 8.8 million tons in 2005 to 9.3 million tons in 2006. And 2006 marked the fifth straight record-breaking year for general cargo tonnage handled the MPA's six public terminals at Dundalk, Seagirt, North Locust Point, South Locust Point, Fairfield, and Masonville, and several private terminals. The total value of cargo moving through the Port's public and private terminals in 2006 was valued at $36.7 billion, which edged out the previous record of $35.9 billion set in 2005, noted the MPA.

The Port of Baltimore was ranked number one in the U.S. for roll on/roll of cargo (farm and construction equipment), trucks, gypsum imports, and iron ore imports. It was ranked second for auto imports, sugar imports, woodpulp imports, and aluminum imports. And it was third in paper imports and wood imports and fourth in automobile imports.

It has been mentioned that one of the benefits for the Port's continued success is its close proximity to the Midwestern region of the country.