Shipping into and out of Port Houston has been disrupted by silt that is still present following Hurricane Harvey, and may not be cleared until May. That has mainly had an impact on oil exports. Containerized freight may also have been restricted with a 3% drop in containerized exports on a year earlier in February after a 20% slide in January.

Imports remain strong though with a 16% expansion, so total port containerized activity climbed 5%. The growth in imports was almost solely due to a 48% surge in traffic from China as a result of the lunar new year timing and Panama Canal d...