Port of the Week! - Jacksonville, FL

Jacksonville is Florida’s largest container port and also holds the privilege as one of the nation’s largest vehicle-handling ports. The East Coast hub attracts the services of over 100 trucking firms and 40 daily trains, including to and from Class I railroads CSX and Norfolk Southern networks.

Jacksonville’s accessibility to southern markets includes the port in several calls from major ocean carriers, like Maersk, MSC, ONE, and Hapag-Lloyd. Altogether, the port’s authority JAXPORT advertises a web of connectivity to more than 140 ports across 70 countries.

It’s true that Jacksonville has a competitive service portfolio, but the East Coast port has struggled in the past to capitalize on lucrative trends—notably, the surge in U.S. imports during the pandemic. A 2022 article from the Journal of Commerce revealed since 2018, Jacksonville’s Asia volume went from 199,825 twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEUs) to 135,958 TEUs in 2021—an average annual decline of 12 percent.

For context, and to refresh everyone’s memory, 2021 was a year defined by historic import demand where, unlike Jacksonville, other East Coast competitors enjoyed significant growth in this area of business. Asian imports grew at a combined average rate of 4.6 percent annually within the same period for other U.S. ports. This data essentially pinned the Florida port as an “odd man out” through the unprecedented import frenzy.

That said, the main reason why Jacksonville missed out on the fruits of this market madness wasn’t a matter of incompetence, but rather one of business development. Over the past several years, the port has continued sweating efforts to cultivate competitive service offerings and strengthen its partnerships with influential stakeholders in the industry. While seducing large ships carrying fat container stacks of Asian imports was unsuccessful, Jacksonville has accepted that is not its place in the future of container shipping. No one likes to admit defeat, but it’s clear that other U.S. ports, like Los Angeles and New York, already dominate inbound trade from Asia. Florida’s largest port has instead turned its development outreach to other global markets.

Jacksonville touts business advancements in 2024

During the Port of Jacksonville’s State of the Port address on Feb. 16, JAXPORT CEO Eric Green informed stakeholders of the port’s business development so far in 2024.

“JAXPORT and our partners have celebrated a series of significant developments already this year,” Green said. “From the addition of new trade lanes and public-private partnerships…we are building on our diversification of business and preparing for growth across key cargo types and business lines.”

Green went on to outline several business developments achieved in the new year. First, Jacksonville will begin its first (and only) direct container service with South America’s West Coast. Ocean carrier MSC will helm the new Ecuador-NWC and existing Scan Baltic-USA rotations, merging the Scan Baltic service with the upcoming Ecuador connection. The move empowers Jacksonville as a strategic waypoint on the tricontinental string.

Next, Green highlighted a finalized long-term agreement between the port and terminal operator Enstructure to expand the latter’s presence at Jacksonville’s Talleyrand Marine Terminal. Enstructure is set to construct a new on-terminal covered facility for increased storage of breakbulk cargoes.

Private retail interests have flocked towards the port as well. Primark, a Europe-based fashion company, has opened a distribution center in Jacksonville, tapping the port to serve the retailer’s shipping needs. Meanwhile, Southeast Toyota, the world's largest independent distributor of Toyota vehicles, is currently constructing a 250,000-square-foot auto processing facility at Blount Island Marine Terminal. Green added that JAXPORT will supplement the project by expanding two vehicles berths at the terminal to accommodate multiple and larger ships specialized in transporting vehicles.