The Port of New Orleans is a port located in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the 5th largest port in the United States based on volume of cargo handled, second-largest in the state after the Port of South Louisiana, and 12th largest in the U.S. based on value of cargo. It also has the longest wharf in the world, which is 2.1 miles (3.4 km) long and can accommodate 15 vessels at one time.[1].

The Port of New Orleans handles about 84 million short tons of cargo a year. The Port of South Louisiana, based in the New Orleans suburb of LaPlace, handles 199 million short tons. The two combined form the largest port system in the world by bulk tonnage, and the world's fourth largest by annual volume handled. For its part, the Port of New Orleans refers to itself as being "at the center of the world’s busiest port complex."

The Port of New Orleans is at the center of the world’s busiest port complex – Louisiana’s Lower Mississippi River. Its proximity to the American Midwest via a 14,500-mile inland waterway system, six Class One railroads and the interstate highway system makes New Orleans the port of choice for the movement of cargoes such as steel, rubber, coffee, containers and manufactured goods.