Port Houston was recently added as a port of call for MSC’s existing Indus Service that serves the U.S., India and the Middle East via the Suez Canal.

The M/V Seamax Greenwich, an 8,900 TEU vessel, arrived at the Bayport Container Terminal in June.

“The remainder of 2018 looks great on the container front with this new weekly service,” Executive Director Roger Guenther said during a recent public meeting.

The Houston region is becoming an important distribution and logistics center for plastic resins, much of which are expected to move across Port Houston docks. Loaded container imports for 2017 increased 22 percent, making Port Houston the fastest-growing import port in the U.S. Loaded container exports grew 5 percent, for a 13 percent overall growth rate.

Much of the container import growth is from the strengthening East Asia market. Inbound transpacific volumes increased 32 percent in 2017. East Asia imports represent 41 percent inbound loaded TEUs.

With three Asian services, projections show Houston’s import growth expanding, while handling new demand from growing plastics exports to Asia.