Governed by a board of seven Commissioners, the Port of South Louisiana, which stretches 54 miles along the Mississippi River, is the largest tonnage port district in the western hemisphere. The facilities within St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, and St. James parishes (counties) handled over 233 million short tons of cargo in 2008, brought to its terminals via vessels and barges.

Over 4,000 oceangoing vessels and 55,000 barges call at the Port of South Louisiana each year, making it the top ranked in the country for export tonnage and total tonnage.

With average exports of over 45 million short tons of cargo per year (go to News & Information/Statistics page for more statistics details) -more than any other port in North America- Port of South Louisiana cargo throughput accounts for 15% and 57% of total U.S. and Louisiana exports, respectively.

The Port of South Louisiana has eight first-rate port-owned facilities, ranging from grain elevators to general cargo facilities. It serves as landlord of these, which are leased to operating companies such as Occidental Chemical, Archer Daniels Midland, and Cargill. The exception is the Globalplex Intermodal Terminal, purchased by the Port in 1992 that is being redeveloped into a world-class complex to accommodate a variety of dry bulk and breakbulk cargo.

Our goals are:

   • To serve the maritime transportation needs of our resident industry

   • To assist resident industry in the development of maritime and/or industrial facilities

   • To encourage foreign and domestic investment within the River Parishes Region and Louisiana

   • To attract foreign and domestic cargo to the Globalplex Intermodal Terminal