The Jacksonville Port Authority (Jaxport) recently announced its public seaport terminals achieved record growth in containers, vehicles and overall tonnage during FY2017, moving more than 1 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) throughout the fiscal year.
When taking into account the containers handled through private terminals, the Port of Jacksonville moved more than 1.3 million TEUs, which made it the largest container port complex in the state of Florida.
The Asian sector accounted for 40 percent of the port’s total cargo container business, up from just 24 percent in FY2013, with approximately 400,000 containers moved.
Dry bulk cargoes increased by 21 percent over the same time period in 2016, with more than 862,338 tons shipped.
Strong auto sales in the southeastern United States and the continued growth of the port’s three auto processors helped Jaxport set another record for the most vehicles moved in its history with more than 693,000 units passing through public and private terminals.
Jaxport also announced that a federal project to deepen the Jacksonville shipping channel to 47 feet to accommodate larger cargo ships is scheduled to begin construction in late 2017 while another project to expand the port’s auto and vehicle handling capacity is currently underway.