All About Business | Nation has supply chain issues, but not at Port Manatee
You may have heard the news about supply chain problems, where large numbers of ships wait offshore for weeks to unload their cargo.
Well, Port Manatee is not among those ports. Instead, Port Manatee continues to set records for the amount of cargo that it handles.
This week, Port Manatee reported that its containerized cargo trade continues to rise to record heights, increasing by more than 53% in the just-ended fiscal year — while total cargo tonnage moving through the seaport has also reached an all-time high.
In its fiscal year ended Sept. 30, a record 135,660 twenty-foot-equivalent container units crossed the docks of Port Manatee, up 53.3 percent from the 88,466 units the preceding 12-month period. The fiscal 2021 figure is more than 3 1/2 times the 38,361 units handled by Port Manatee three years earlier in fiscal 2018.
Port Manatee also achieved a record in total cargo tonnage in fiscal 2021, with 10,451,566 short tons handled, up 12.1 percent from 9,327,043 tons in fiscal 2020 and eclipsing the prior record of 10,081,743 tons handled in fiscal 2019.
“The pandemic has by no means slowed the safe, efficient flow of cargo through Port Manatee as we proficiently meet demands of consumers for everything from fresh produce to forest products,” said Carlos Buqueras, the port’s executive director. “And, with completion of our expanded dockside container yard and additional infrastructure enhancements on the horizon, Port Manatee is ideally positioned to sustain its cargo volume surge.”
The soon-to-be-completed expansion will more than double the size of the paved facility adjoining Port Manatee’s Berth 12 and 14 docks to 21.9 acres.
Forest product tonnage moving through Port Manatee in fiscal 2021 was more than 2.3 times that of the preceding 12-month period, rising to 331,024 tons from 142,312 tons a year earlier.
The volume of wood pulp – including that used in manufacture of much-in-demand toilet paper – reached 138,950 tons, more than four times the fiscal 2020 volume of 26,373 tons, while tonnage of plywood and particle board more than tripled, to 63,038 tons from 15,366 tons. Lumber volume rose 28.3 percent, to 129,036 tons from 100,573 tons.
The flow of petroleum products through Port Manatee remained strong as well, with the 9,376,621 barrels (393,818,082 gallons) moving through the seaport in fiscal 2021 down 0.7 percent from 9,441,488 barrels (396,542,454 gallons) a year earlier.
“Port Manatee is continuing its extraordinary course of record activity while fulfilling the needs of our region and beyond,” said Reggie Bellamy, chairman of the Manatee County Port Authority. “At the same time, we and our industry partners are augmenting our significant contributions to economic prosperity.”
In other business:
▪ The Manasota Black Chamber of Commerce and the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance are hosting the Elevating CommUnity event in the Neel Performing Arts Center, State College of Florida, 5840 26th St W, Bradenton, Thursday. The event will showcase black-owned businesses and entrepreneurs making an impact in the region, building pathways for inclusive participation across the economic landscape.
Food trucks — Miss Susie’s Newtown Kitchen and Perry’s BBQ — will have food for sale and networking is planned 5-6 p.m.
The program is set for 6-7:30 p.m. with guest speakers Hugh Campbell, president of AC4S Technologies, and Veronica Valdez, vice president of Minority and Small Business Programs with Enterprise Florida, Inc.
The event is free. Attendees are asked to RSVP at www.lwrba.org/event-4320886.
▪ A Chicken Salad Chick restaurant is planned for 5434 45th St. E., in the Lockwood Commons shopping center, according to paperwork filed recently with the Manatee County Building Department.
