Gateway to Florida’ s fastest-growing market
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
ASIA TRADE SPOTLIGHT— PORT TAMPA BAY
During 2024, Port Tampa Bay invested $ 80 million in capital projects. greater numbers of roll-on / roll-off cargoes, with a shorter transit time. Additionally, nearshoring, including from Mexico, continues to be a viable trade lane with shorter transit times and savings for Florida’ s auto dealers.
Shutterstock. com market conditions and global disruptions. Port congestion on the West and East coasts remains a key challenge, which is precisely why shippers are turning to Gulf Coast ports like Port Tampa Bay. Solutions lie in diversification and the leveraging of ports like Port Tampa Bay, which can mitigate risk, reduce inland transportation costs and take advantage of underutilized
yet highly efficient gateways that offer fast access to booming inland markets.
Q: Are you seeing any shifts in sourcing that favor origins outside of China?
A: Port Tampa Bay’ s tenant, Hyundai – Glovis, is a South Korean company, and our relationship could expand to include
Q: How is the port continuing to focus on expanding and attracting more direct Asian services?
A: While Port Tampa Bay still has room to grow, long-term plans include strategic land acquisition. In March, the port purchased 22 acres of waterfront property from the local power utility. The facility will be developed as a marine terminal, supporting the region’ s economic growth opportunities.
The port is also a critical gateway for building supplies for much of Florida during the current construction boom. Moving forward, exceptional growth is expected in renewable energy cargoes, including solar steel. Port Tampa Bay is also a major fuel / energy gateway for Florida, a major shipbuilding and repair center, and a significant fertilizer port that generates more than $ 34.6 billion in economic impact and supports more than 192,000 jobs in Central Florida. Port Tampa Bay is no longer Florida’ s best-kept logistics secret— it’ s the state’ s most strategic, cost-effective container gateway. n
email: lori. musser @ att. net
Gateway to Florida’ s fastest-growing market
Delivering significant supply chain efficiencies and cost savings, Port Tampa Bay supports importers and exporters tapping into Florida’ s booming economy and serving the state’ s growing population. Strategically located at the crossroads of the I-4 and I-75 corridors, the port provides direct access to the state’ s largest concentration of distribution centers including over 550 million square feet in Central Florida alone.
Recent service expansions, including Maersk’ s new Cartagena – Tampa‘ America Shuttle 2,’ have strengthened the port’ s connections to Asia and Latin America, fueling double-digit growth in containerized cargo. With nearly half of Florida’ s 23 million residents and most of its 142.9 million annual visitors based in the Central Florida region, demand continues to surge, making it one of the nation’ s hottest logistics and industrial markets.
Drayage efficiencies allow truckers to complete up to four round trips daily between the port and nearby DCs, while favorable backhaul rates extend reach across the Southeast. In partnership with Ports America, Port Tampa Bay is scaling infrastructure with expanded gates, 100 acres of storage, new STS cranes and a berth expansion to support ongoing growth. n
44 Journal of Commerce | July 7, 2024 www. joc. com