Port Tampa Bay puts positive spin on stagnant cargo environment

Private terminal volumes outpaced growth of port authority docks.    Port Tampa Bay CEO Paul Anderson painted a rosy picture in his Jan. 27 “State of the Port” address of the facility’s progress handling cargo and boosting the local economy. But many of the statistics cited presented a best case scenario involving cargo generated outside the port’s jurisdiction.
   The discrepancy results from the fact that statistics are kept both for public terminals, owned by the city of Tampa and managed by the port authority, and total port berths, which includes private terminals surrounding the port that belong to companies such as fertilizer maker Mosaic.
   Port officials say that people attending the annual address come from all over the metropolitan area and want to hear about how overall maritime commerce is driving growth.
   “The health of the port ultimately reflects the total port activity, more than just what’s happening with our port facilities,” Wade Elliott, vice president of marketing and business development at Port Tampa Bay, said. “The port also works with, or benefits, companies with private terminals when it comes to lobbying on public policy issues such as channel dredging, infrastructure and local economic development,” he added.
   It is not uncommon for ports to highlight activity by the entire port community, not just the facilities they control directly.
   According to figures for fiscal year 2014, ended Sept. 30, Port Tampa Bay berths handled 13.2 million total tons of bulk and general cargo, a 1.8 percent decline from the previous year. But in his speech to the local business community, Anderson touted the port’s 3.5 percent increase, equivalent to 1.25 million addition tons of cargo, and total tonnage of more than 36 million tons. In doing so, he essentially took credit for 23 million tons of cargo that has no real connection to Port Tampa Bay except proximity.
   While both the public and private terminals experienced more than 10 percent growth in dry bulk materials such as phosphates and cement, Anderson cited absolute growth of 1.2 million tons versus 394,000 tons crossing port authority docks.
   Liquid bulk volume, for products such as petroleum and chemicals, fell 7 percent to 7.99 million tons. Anderson instead said the category only dipped 1 percent last year to 20.6 million tons, the majority of which was handled outside the port proper.
   General cargo grew 4.83 percent, or 54,155 tons, to 1.17 million tons, according to the port director. But the port’s own statistics show general cargo fell 4 percent to 1.03 million tons. The general cargo category was bolstered by a 20 percent spike in steel, to 245,345 tons, in response to a road and building construction renaissance in Florida, but was pulled down overall by lower volumes in scrap metal and other miscellaneous cargo.
   Anderson also said container growth was up 14 percent, leaving the impression that the increase was in TEUs, the most common way method for measuring the shipping units. The 14 percent growth cited was actually in container tonnage, while TEUs grew 11 percent, according to the official statistics.
   Total vessel calls to Port Tampa Bay were up 5.5 percent to 3,153, Anderson said. But the 853 arrivals by oceangoing vessels was actually 2 percent fewer than in fiscal year 2013. The growth mostly came from domestic barge and tug movements along the Gulf coast.

CORRECTION: The story incorrectly stated that the public docks at Port Tampa Bay are owned by the city of Tampa. Port Tampa is an independent port district created by the state of Florida.