Port Manatee's container cargo up 36 percent

Port officials are still feeling the economy's strength, despite some signs of softening, with containerized cargo rising in the first half of the fiscal year by 36 percent over last year.

From Oct. 1 to March 31, Port Manatee's docks moved 12,653 20-foot-equivalent container units, or TEUs in the trade vernacular. That was up from 9,321 in the comparable year-earlier fiscal half.

Import TEUs were the strongest performer, rising 40 percent, to 7,398 TEUs from 5,291, according to officials managing the port in northern Manatee County.

That increase in business was coming off a strong fiscal 2015, where the port saw an 83 percent rise in TEUs handled when compared with the preceding fiscal year.

During the recent six-month period, Port Manatee handled 3,310,873 tons of cargo. That was up 5.7 percent from 3,132,705 tons during the first half of the previous fiscal year.

Port Manatee is the closest U.S. deepwater seaport to the expanding Panama Canal, with 10 40-foot-draft berths serving container, bulk, breakbulk, heavylift, project and general cargo customers.

Source: www.heraldtribune.com