Port Manatee shattering cargo records, data shows
Port Manatee
By ABC7 Staff | April 15, 2021 at 11:55 AM EDT - Updated April 15 at 11:55 AM
PALMETTO, Fla. (WWSB) - Containerized cargo traffic through Port Manatee has exploded in the last six months, with port officials reporting a 74% increase above the same period a year ago.
“Rapidly escalating volumes of both of Port Manatee’s primary containerized cargo carriers – World Direct Shipping and Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. – are propelling the unprecedented activity,” Carlos Buqueras, Port Manatee’s executive director, said in a news release.
An all-time-high 67,675 twenty-foot-equivalent container units (TEUs) moved through Port Manatee during the first half of the port’s current fiscal year, up 73.7% over the prior first-half record of 38,954 TEUs, established in the six months ended March 31, 2020.