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MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — The supply chain crisis created a domino effect of problems but the port in Manatee County has been reaping some benefits from it.

SeaPort Manatee County continues setting records, according to port officials who also said they expect operations and capacity at the port to keep growing. SeaPort Manatee reported a container volume increase of 32.2-percent, which accounts for a record-setting growth in the first fiscal half-year that ended in March.

"SeaPort Manatee's sustained growth in all sectors of cargo activity demonstrates continuing ability to adeptly meet the needs of consumers and industry throughout Central and Southwest Florida and beyond," said Carlos Buqueras, executive director of the Manatee County port, in a statement.

The port has become part of the global trade hub and was recently renamed SeaPort Manatee.

"With the completion of the expansion of dockside container yard facilities and other infrastructure enhancements, as well as thousands of on- and near-port acres available for future growth, SeaPort Manatee is perfectly poised to keep moving even more commerce," Buqueras added.

"We are definitely experiencing record growth here at SeaPort Manatee," said Charles Tillotson, chief commercial officer for SeaPort Manatee.

According to Tillotson, SeaPort Manatee handled 660,847 short tons of containerized cargo in the first six months of its current fiscal year. He said the primary driver of that growth are imports that coming  from Mexico to Florida and arrive within just two days of shipping.

According to a statement, figures released Tuesday showed the port also established a record for "twenty-foot-equivalent container units, with the 85,383 TEUs moving across SeaPort Manatee's docks being a 26 percent increase over a year earlier." 

Cargo with non-containerized items like forest products coming from Asia and South America are on the rise too.

Items like lumber, plywood, and other forest products, as well as aluminum and recycled steel materials, have seen an increase in incoming cargo.

"Part of it is people building homes here in Florida but the other part of it is that a lot of the Asian forest products would go through LA-Long beach and be trucked or railed across the United States," he said. 

But a backlog of ships at California ports contributed to the supply chain crisis kick-started by the COVID pandemic. It caused shippers to seek alternative solutions and many of them turned to less congested ports in Florida.

"A lot of the beneficial cargo owners have shifted their modes of transportation. So, now they're going to non-contained means, and since they can't get into L.A., Long Beach, they are now coming around to Port Manatee and other ports here on the Gulfcoast and other ports in Florida," Tillotson said.

"We have been able to absorb that to keep the products moving through supply chains."

Other records set by SeaPort Manatee in the last six months include:

SeaPort Manatee's first-fiscal-half high marks follow numerous full-fiscal-year records established in the 12-month period ending on Sept. 30, 2021.

"The remarkable ongoing activity gains at SeaPort Manatee are a testament to our ability to provide leading-edge facilities for efficient movement of a wide range of vital goods," said Reggie Bellamy in a statement.

Bellamy is the chairman of the Manatee County Port Authority. 

"Meanwhile, a team of expert consultants, in concert with a broad spectrum of stakeholders, is working to complete a blueprint for further growth and still-greater contributions to our region's economy," Bellamy said.

In general, the port operation has grown in the last year, compared to previous years. The port's total cargo haulage is at  5,365,359 tonnes, up 10.4 percent over a year ago.

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