JaxPort cargo volumes rise amid Puerto Rico recovery

Container volumes at the Port of Jacksonville in North Florida jumped 25 percent year-over-year to 100,346 TEUs in February 2018, thanks in large part to a 35 percent increase in shipments to and from Puerto Rico.    The Port of Jacksonville handled 100,346 TEUs in February 2018, a 25 percent increase compared with the same month a year ago, according to the latest data from the Jacksonville Port Authority (JaxPort).
   JaxPort attributed the increase in volumes of containerized cargo in large part to a significant boost in shipments to and from Puerto Rico, which is still in the midst of recovering from Hurricane Maria, which swept through the island last September, causing widespread devastation and leaving the island without electricity for months.
   Volumes between JaxPort and Puerto Rico surged 35 percent year-over-year in February to 57,242 TEUs.
   In addition, the North Florida port also saw a boost in cargo volumes from Asia, which have been steadily rising over the last five years.
   JaxPort handled 34,550 TEUs of containerized cargo to and from Asia for the month, a 15 percent increase from February 2017.
   “During the past five years, JaxPort has recorded an average of 21 percent annual growth in Asian container volumes,” the port authority said in a statement.
   The port authority in February began construction on the Jacksonville Harbor Deepening project, which will deepen the Port of Jacksonville’s main river channel from 40 feet to 47 feet in an effort to accommodate the larger containerships now being deployed in the transpacific trade between Asia and the United States.