Port Houston container activity for September was 281,500 TEU, an increase of 11 per cent year over year compared to the same month last year.

It was the seventh consecutive month for containers to show double-digit growth at the port, driven largely by increased consumer spending, officials said.

"We expect container as well as demand for steel to continue growing through the remainder of the fourth quarter and into next year," Roger Guenther, executive director at Port Houston, said in a statement.

Port Houston's largest gains in tonnage during September came from a 445 per cent year-on-year increase in exports of steel at 5,088 tonnes. It was the second consecutive month that steel exports topped tonnage at the port.

Import tonnage of steel increased 131 per cent year on year to 331,852 tonnes.

Port Houston handled 10,114 TEU in empty import containers during September, down 5 per cent year on year, but up 17 per cent from August. Exports of empty containers were up 122 per cent in September from a year ago, to 66,234 TEU.

Year to date, Port Houston has surpassed the 2 million-TEU mark, with 2.5 million TEU compared to 2.1 million TEU through the first nine months of 2020, a 16 per cent YoY increase.

The Port of Mobile in Alabama is also receiving record cargo volumes due to shifting supply chains, officials reported. The port handled 44,107 TEU in September, boosted by refrigerated cargo containers, which saw an 46 per cent increase over the same time last year.

The port's Intermodal Container Transfer Facility also saw increased volume as shippers opted to utilise Mobile for rail service to Memphis, Tennessee, and Chicago.

The Port of Mobile also handled 369,738 TEU through the first nine months of the year, a 27 per cent year to date increase compared to the same period in 2020.

The Port of Corpus Christi reported it moved 14.4 million tonnes of cargo in September, an 8 per cent increase from the same month in 2020.