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Business at Port Manatee is off to a solid start in 2016, from an expansion in cargo handled to an expansion of the facility.
On the latter, a warehouse on port grounds, condemned in 2009 from structural damage in an accident caused by the tenant, has been repaired and is ready for occupancy. The repairs cost less than $100,000, say port officials, and the 60,000-square-foot dry storage space could be 50% leased by March. “We turned a significant port liability into a significant port asset,” Port Executive Director Carlos Buqueras tells Coffee Talk.
Port Manatee, in north Manatee County, also recently announced a new agreement to handle nearly 100 million gallons of gasoline a year from Atlanta-based RaceTrac Petroleum. The fuel, according to a statement, is headed to nine counties, including Charlotte, Collier, Hillsborough and Pinellas.
The port, the statement adds, handled 420,319 barrels of gasoline from October through December, compared to zero gallons in the 2014 fourth quarter. The port also received about 75,000 barrels of inbound gasoline and ethanol via trucks during the final three months of 2015. “The fuel business represents a new and exciting stream of revenue for Port Manatee, with tremendous upside potential, consistent with our diversification strategy,” Buqueras says in the release.
Port Manatee is also growing beyond gasoline. The port posted an 83% annual increase in container units handled in its most recent fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30. The port handled 25,778 20-foot-equivlant units during the year, up from 14,078 in the prior fiscal year. Containerized imports rose 65%, while exports increased 119%.
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