A Whale-Sized Issue: FLORIDA’S SEAPORTS REPORT RECORD GROWTH, PLAN FOR EXPANSION AMIDST UNCERTAINTY
Spurred by 2021’s global supply chain crisis and ongoing labor issues in California’s ports, as well as a rapidly growing state population and increased trade between the U.S. and Mexico, Florida’s 16 seaports posted record cargo movements in 2022. Together, they handled 112.5 million tons of cargo, a 6-percent increase from 2021. “There’s been unprecedented growth for one simple thing you’ll appreciate: population growth,” said Carlos Buqueras, chairman of the Florida Ports Council and president and CEO of SeaPort Manatee. “As they say in the shipping business, or any business, a rising sea floats all ships. We all went up. The Florida ports have been very aggressive in growing and being able to serve the population that depends on us to provide most of the supplies that they use in a day.” Increased trade with Mexico has played a significant role in growth for Florida’s ports. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security, U.S. exports to Mexico increased 30.7 percent from 2020 to 2021, and imports from Mexico increased by 18.3 percent. And as more cargo travels between the two countries, there has been greater demand for Florida’s ports. “It’s neat to see the types of commodities that are traveling both directions,” said Alex King, chair of the Florida Seaport Transportation and Economic Development Council and executive director of Port Panama City. “That’s something that not only Panama City, but other Gulf ports are really getting involved in considering the amount of trade that currently goes by land over the border.” And though California’s ports offer an attractive route for trade with Asia, they have become overcrowded and faced an onslaught of labor issues due to ongoing contract negotiations, an issue that has not impacted Florida’s ports. “You head to California ports, and that was the quickest way for shipping line carriers to deliver goods
32 | ENGINEERING FLORIDA
BY LINDSEY RANAYHOSSAINI Staff Writer
As they say in the shipping business, or any business, a rising sea floats all ships. We all went up. to the United States (from Asia),” said Michael Rubin, president and CEO of the Florida Ports Council. “And it’s gotten crowded. [The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach] are perhaps the most inefficient ports in the world.” But Florida’s Gulf ports may be impacted by a different issue – the trade waters they serve are home to the endangered Rice’s whale, and further protections could drastically reshape Florida’s shipping industry.
GROWTH IN THE GULF OF MEXICO Florida’s four most active ports in the Gulf of Mexico reported record-breaking numbers for both cargo and revenue in 2022. Port Panama City set an all-time record of 2.03 million tons of cargo, a 4-percent yearover-year growth. Additionally, Port Panama City saw a 9-percent increase in revenue over fiscal year 2021, with a record $19.04 million in revenue for fiscal year 2022. Also in the Panhandle, the Port of Pensacola handled 425,577 tons of cargo in fiscal year 2022, a 55-percent year-over-year increase. The story was similar for SeaPort Manatee, which saw a 35-percent increase in container cargo in fiscal year 2022 and a record 177,108 Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEU), more than doubling its TEU total for fiscal year 2020.