The Gulf Coast ports have received a lot of attention in recent years and rightfully so. The ports along the Gulf Coast provided a pressure relief valve of sorts, though they suffered with congestion throughout the pandemic as well.
What separates the Gulf Coast ports from the major East and West Coast ports is the importance that bulk cargo and the industrial sector as a whole play in port volume. At Port Houston, over a third of all tonnage cleared in 2022 was noncontainerized.
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/port-houston-shows-import-strength-in-february