The Port of Mobile, located in Mobile, Alabama, United States, is the only deep-water port in the state, and was the 9th largest by tonnage in the nation in 2008. It is located along the Mobile River where it empties into Mobile Bay. The Port of Mobile has public, deepwater terminals with direct access to 1,500 miles of inland and intracoastal waterways serving the Great Lakes, the Ohio and Tennessee river valleys (via the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway), and the Gulf of Mexico. The Alabama State Port Authority owns and operates the public terminals at the Port of Mobile. The public terminals handle containerized, bulk, break bulk, roll-on/roll-off, and heavy lift cargoes. The port is also home to private bulk terminal operators. The container, general cargo and bulk facilities have immediate access to two interstate systems and five Class I railroads. Additionally, the CG Railway operates from the port as a rail ferry service to Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, in Mexico.

In 2008, the Port of Mobile had a trade volume of 67,635,501 tons. The Port of Mobile is the largest break bulk forest products port in the United States, and the Alabama State Port Authority's McDuffie Terminal is the second largest coal terminal in the United States and largest import coal terminal.

The Alabama State Port Authority has announced $360M to be spent over five years to improve infrastructure at the port. Improvements may include land acquisition, new rail and inter-modal yards, cargo terminal improvements and enhancements to improve servicing of deep-water oil and gas field vessels and equipment Since 2000, the Port Authority has undergone nearly $500M in capital improvements and expansion projects to serve containerized, bulk and break bulk commodities. Improvements include a new rail ferry terminal, new warehousing, a new container terminal, and expansions at McDuffie. The Port of Mobile has an estimated state wide economic impact approaching $8 billion annually.

• List of ports in the United States

• Alabama State Port Authority website
• Alabama Port is located at 30.440474°N 88.105832°W

Coordinates: 30.71217°N 88.04331°W

The Port of Decatur is a transshipment port on the Tennessee River, in the city of Decatur, Alabama, United States of America. The port was founded in 1971.

Port facilities

Port facilities include intermodal transfer points for switches between barge, road and rail, storage facilities for bulk liquids, dry bulk and general cargo and 12 acres (49,000 m²) of open storage. Serviceable quay length is 2,000 feet (610 m), with a year-round draft of nine metres.

The port is directly connected to the Norfolk Southern and CSX railroads and to interstate and regional highway networks.

Industries

Port throughput is dominated by imports of industrial and agricultural commodities including sand, asphalt, grains and fertilizers, coal, and steel piping. From 2005 the port also began handling poultry feed products for nationwide poultry firm Golden Kist.

Exports are limited by the cost-efficiency of road and rail distribution networks, forcing many barges accessing the port to return empty. Shipping times to New Orleans are approximately two weeks from loading.