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PortMiami and Port Everglades are quick in working with the government to facilitate inspections and expedite releases of imports.
But changes are afoot in Florida as a wide- range of ports competes for market share.
“In Florida, there have been initiatives to bring more produce to Northern ports, away from the traditional hubs of Port of Miami and Port Everglades,” says Ocampo. “Some shipping lines are now using Port Canaveral and Port of Tampa for reefers incoming from Central America.
“Ports o er more options in terms of refrig- erated facilities, complementary to the standard docking services that other ports not servicing produce o er,” he says.
More than a shift, Ocampo says the changes are a response to more demand.
“ ese new options are absorbing some of that new demand,” he says.
Tampa Bay is not only near the heart of Florida’s agricultural industry, but it is increas- ingly becoming a key point of entry for imports of agricultural products.
Wade Elliott, vice president of marketing and business development at Port Tampa Bay, says his area has become a logistics hub with the highest concentration of distribution centers in the state.
“ e Tampa Bay/Orlando I-4 Corridor region is the fastest growing region in Florida and is now home to almost half of the state’s population,” says Elliott. “Fresh pineapples, mangos, avocados, limes and juice are examples of fruit import commodities handled regularly at Port Tampa Bay.
“Consumer demands for same-day service, tighter delivery windows and shorter lead times are driving a shift in supply chain strategies,” he says. “Port Tampa Bay is ideally positioned to capitalize on these trends.”
One game-changer for the port was the opening of Port Logistics Refrigerated Services’ (PLRS) new refrigerated warehouse in 2017.
“With onsite dedicated fumigation services, this 135,000-square-foot facility has 6,348 racked pallet positions, 148 reefer plugs, onsite USDA and CBP inspection areas, as well as a CBP AG Specialists lab,” he says. “With an adjacent berth capable of working two vessels simultaneously and two dedicated mobile harbor cranes, the facility is also right next door to the port’s container terminal with post-Pan- amax gantry cranes.”
Elliott says the new 17,000 linear feet of on-dock rail and a dedicated truck ramp linking the port to the interstate were also major infra- structure expansion projects to improve truck and rail connectivity. And at the facility itself,
there is still plenty of room to grow.
“ ere are more than 75 acres adjacent to
the PLRS facility and the container terminal in an area we refer to as the Food Campus where we are planning to develop additional ware- house, trans-loading and distribution capacity to serve the food and beverage, as well as the retail sector,” he says.
THE MAINSTAY PORTS
At the Port of Wilmington, Casey says the Panama Canal expansion has had virtually
no impact on fruit imports from this region, which for Wilmington is primarily Chilean winter fruit. However, Casey notes the impor- tance of the port’s ability to handle Moroccan citrus, Argentine apples and pears and Peruvian grapes. “ is product arrives in Wilmington via the specialized reefer mode.
“Having said that, we handled a trial service last Chilean season with a feeder container ship that transshipped fruit over the Bahamas,” he clari es. “Large container ships that did bene t from the Canal expansion partially contrib-
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