Florida Port Officials heading for California to drum up business

Florida ports ready and eager for more cargo to relieve national supply problems

Florida port officials will head to California this month to push for more cargo ships to come to Florida to help ease global supply-chain issues.

Members of the Florida Ports Council said they have already seen the state’s ports take in more business since they increased efforts in October to capitalize on congestion at the ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif. They said a trip to California during the last week of February to a major shipping conference known as TPM22 will be used to further “beat that drum.”

The Florida Seaport Transportation and Economic Development Council estimated waterborne trade at the state’s seaports fell 16.1 percent in 2020 due to the pandemic, a $14.1 billion hit.

“We’re going to put ourselves front and center into the battleground,” said Jonathan Daniels, chief executive and port director at Port Everglades and chairman of the Florida Ports Council, said during a “State of Seaports” address last week at the Capitol.

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