SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
JACKSONVILLE TRADE AND LOGISTICS
The cost picture is of great importance, as well.
“ Compared to Savannah, Charleston or South Florida, Jacksonville offers a meaningful advantage on land and labor costs,” Margiotta said.“ That value proposition is getting harder to ignore.”
Jaxport’ s top cargoes
The Port of Jacksonville moved 10.2 million tons of cargo, 1.4 million TEUs and approximately 500,000 vehicles during fiscal year 2025. Several trends contributed to these volumes.
“ We continue to see growth in trade with international markets in regions such as South and Southeast Asia, Europe, and Central and South America,” Peek said.“ Additionally, Jacksonville maintains six weekly sailings to Puerto Rico, our single-largest trading partner.”
The completed expansion of the SSA Jacksonville Container Terminal increased the port’ s ability to handle more containers within its existing footprint.
“ The arrival of two new container cranes in 2025 further enhances our capacity at the Blount Island Marine Terminal,” Peek said.
The port is one of the most diverse in the US, handling containers, vehicles, breakbulk, dry and liquid bulk, military equipment and project cargo. Containers account for the largest share at 45 %, while vehicles account for 20 % and breakbulk at 9 %.
Based on fiscal year 2025 data, the top container commodities by TEU include furniture, grocery products, chemicals, plumbing supplies, food, paper, industrial supplies, auto supplies and plastics.
Jaxport ranks among the nation’ s leading container ports for refrigerated and frozen cargo, Peek noted. Top temperature-controlled commodities include seafood, poultry, produce and pharmaceuticals.
“ With reefer capacity on ocean carrier services, 1,600 on-dock reefer plugs, and cold storage and distribution centers within minutes of port terminals, Jacksonville provides an efficient end-toend cold chain solution,” he said.
“ Diversification across trade lanes and business lines is a core strength for Jaxport,” Green said.“ It drives stability, supports private-sector job creation and builds long-term resilience for our port and region.”
Caribbean, global trade lanes anchor port activity
Jaxport operates across a wide range of global trade routes.
“ Puerto Rico and that Caribbean trade lane is a cornerstone of warehouse and distribution demand in Jacksonville,” Margiotta said.“ The sheer volume of goods moving between Jacksonville and Puerto Rico supports a significant base of logistics tenants who need portadjacent space.”
For Crowley, Jaxport serves as a critical hub within the carrier’ s Caribbean and domestic shipping network. From the port, Crowley offers vessel services connecting the US with Puerto Rico, Central America and the Caribbean, enabling reliable, endto-end supply chain solutions that scale with customer demand.
“ This includes deploying our new liquefied natural gas [ LNG ]-powered Avance Class vessels, which call Jaxport to serve Central American and Caribbean trade lanes,” Davis said.
“ Strategically, Jacksonville’ s infrastructure, operational efficiency and close collaboration with Jaxport help us maintain schedule integrity, reduce congestion risk and support long-term growth across our regional network, making it one of the most important ports in our US and Caribbean operations.”
Other large container markets for Jaxport include Southeast Asia, Central America and South America.
“ Our roll-on / roll-off [ ro / ro ] volumes are global, with vehicle cargoes originating from or destined to ports around the world,” Peek said.“ Our terminal operators also handle nearly 1 million tons of breakbulk volumes annually between Europe and South America, as well as dry bulk imports from North America. A strong network of liner services and charters serves these trade lanes.”
Looking ahead, the port projects that Central America, South America, Europe, and South and Southeast Asia will be its strongest routes for growth.
“ We have a dedicated team of sales professionals focused on serving customers in these trade lanes,” Peek said.
Nearshoring drives supply chain, logistics growth
Jacksonville is identifying growth patterns across Central American and Caribbean trade lanes. These have been driven by nearshoring as companies shorten supply chains and improve reliability.
“ As companies rebalance sourcing closer to US markets, demand is increasing for reliable, regional connections that support shorter transit times and more predictable service,” Davis said.“ Jacksonville’ s role as a stable, well-connected gateway is helping support that shift without relying on any single market or commodity.”
Crowley sees growing demand tied to manufacturing and sourcing shifts in Central America, the Caribbean and Mexico, reinforcing Jaxport’ s role as a primary gateway for these trade lanes.
“ We’ ve enhanced end-to-end logistics solutions that combine ocean, rail and inland transportation,” Davis says.“ These allow customers to move goods faster, with greater reliability and efficiency, while supporting scalable growth as nearshoring activity continues to evolve.”
Nearshoring continues to have measurable impact beyond the Caribbean.
“ Jaxport has also been developing new trade lane connections in Southeast and South Asia, which broadens the port’ s cargo mix and drives additional warehousing demand,” Margiotta said.“ For us as developers, the diversification of trade flows means more resilient, long-term demand rather than reliance on any single lane or commodity.”
The port also manages Florida’ s largest foreign-trade zone, FTZ No. 64, which allows companies to defer or reduce certain customs duties on imported goods.
“ Once activated in the FTZ, a company’ s warehouse is eligible to defer, reduce or eliminate US Customs duties on imported goods,” Peek said.
Infrastructure moves
The port’ s strategic plan focuses on infrastructure investments to improve efficiency and capacity.
“ Our terminals look different today than they did even a year ago,” Green said.“ That progress reflects a consistent, long-term strategy.”
At Blount Island Marine Terminal, the newly completed modernization of the SSA Jacksonville Container Terminal increases SSA’ s capacity to more than 650,000 TEUs annually. This also doubles the port’ s overall container www. joc. com April 6, 2026 | Journal of Commerce 39