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The Port of Houston Authority (PHA) has announced that ship arrivals at its breakbulk facilities have risen by 27 percent so far this year and that overall ship arrivals are also higher in 2010 despite a fall in container volumes in July.

In his monthly financial report, CEO Alec G. Dreyer said Houston saw a slowdown in July in its leading indicator cargo - container volumes - but consistent and strong improvement in its lagging commodities, particularly steel.

"Steel continues to methodically improve, with a welcome increase in steel activity during July this year, in fact, the highest month for steel that PHA has seen since March 2009," Dreyer said.

The port authority said ship arrivals at Houston's breakbulk facilities were up a strong 27 percent compared to last year, and, even though ship arrivals were down 3 percent at the port's container facilities, overall year-to-date arrivals have improved by nearly 3 percent.

"The good news for our local economy is that container tonnage is up a strong 8 percent year to date," said Dreyer.

"The real vibrancy of this recovery will be measured by the last five months of this year. We expect overall growth in container tonnage for 2010 to end up in the high single digits by year-end," Dreyer added.