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MARYLAND AT A GLANCE

WATERWAYS

PORT OF BALTIMORE

[photo, Skyline from Federal Hill, Baltimore, Maryland]
  • Exports
  • Imports
  • Port's 300th Anniversary
    • Baltimore is one of only two Eastern U.S. ports where the main shipping channel reaches a depth of 50 feet (15.2 meters). Five public and twelve private terminals handle the Port's traffic. Closer to the Midwest than any other East Coast port, the Port in Baltimore City is within an overnight drive of one-third of the nation's population.

    Skyline from Federal Hill, Baltimore, Maryland, December 2006. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

    [photo, Tugboat, Baltimore Harbor, Baltimore, Maryland] The Port of Baltimore has a vital role in Maryland's economic development, generating $1.5 billion in annual revenue and supporting 33,700 jobs. It serves over 50 ocean carriers making nearly 1,800 annual visits. The Port's container capacity increased by 50% with the opening in 1990 of Seagirt Marine Terminal, a 275-acre center for automated cargo-handling. General cargo moving through the Port of in 2006 amounted to a record-setting 9.3 million short tons (a large increase from the 8.8 millions tons for 2005).

    In 2006, the value of cargo traveling through the Port reached $36.7 billion. In 2005, it had been $35.9 billion.

    1906 Steam Tugboat BALTIMORE, moored in Baltimore Harbor, Baltimore, Maryland, September 2001. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

    [photo, Tugboats, Fells Point, Baltimore, Maryland] On June 1, 2006, the Governor named the State's public marine terminals the "Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore."

    Tugboats, Fells Point, Baltimore, Maryland, January 2000. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

    The center of international commerce for the region is the World Trade Center Baltimore. It houses the Maryland Port Administration and U.S. headquarters for several major shipping lines.

    Chief Exports: coal, corn, soybeans, lignite, coal coke, petroleum, and fuel oils.

    Chief Imports: automobiles and small trucks, iron ore, petroleum products, gypsum, sugar, cement, bauxite, salt, crude mineral substances, fertilizer and fertilizer materials, and ferroalloys. Baltimore also continues to grow as a major distributor of imported wood pulp and paper.

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