A STRONGER PORT

A CLEANER COAST

BACKGROUND ON PORT

The Matagorda Ship Channel is the 76th busiest waterway in the United States. A total of 5.2 million tons of cargo moved on the channel in 2019. Foreign trade made up more than 75% of that total. Primary cargoes are chemicals, petrochemicals, aluminum ore, agricultural fertilizer, petroleum coke, condensate, crude oil, limestone and natural gas liquids. A key part of this mix is very high-value chemicals produced by area industries.

More than 38,000 jobs in Texas and the U.S. are related to Matagorda Ship Channel commerce. The federal channel helps support $8.0 billion in economic activity annually to the Nation.

PROJECT FACTS

The Matagorda Ship Channel expansion is a project essential to the economic growth of the Texas Gulf Coast, the state of Texas and the entire country.

The project has been fully approved by the Army Corps, was passed by Congress in the WRDA Act and signed into law by the president in December 2020.

The project is not only fully authorized by Congress, but it also is being privately funded and will cost the taxpayers zero dollars.

The public in the Texas Gulf Coast is overwhelmingly supportive of the project. A recent poll showed 62% support the project and only 15% opposed it—a more than 4 to 1 ratio.

Virtually every elected official in the area supports the project, including the local Member of Congress, the local State Senator and State Representative, the local Mayor and City Council, the County Commissioners, and the Port Authority Commissioners.

Principal commodities making up the waterborne commerce on the Matagorda Ship Channel include concrete, chemicals, bauxite (the world’s main source of aluminum) and oil and gas among other products. The expansion of this ship channel would potentially allow it to compete with other major ports and exports an even wider array of products including bulk grains, tallow and grease and prepared grocery items.