SeaPort Manatee breaks annual cargo record

For the second year in a row, SeaPort Manatee broke its record for volume of cargo handled.

In fiscal year 2025, the port in Manatee County reported 11,855,828 tons of cargo flowed through, narrowly passing the record it set in fiscal 2024 of 11,779,601 tons; the increase was nearly 0.65% overall. 

This fiscal year, the port also reported best-ever levels of liquid and dry bulk activity.

“Key contributors” to the record 6.4 million tons of liquid bulk were petroleum products and juices, which were up 8% from the previous fiscal year, according to a statement.

Dry bulk was up 9.7% from FY 2024, thanks in part to “consistent flows” of commodities like limestone, granite and phosphate rock, contributing to the port’s record 3.44 million tons of dry bulk, the statement says.

Breakbulk tonnage rose 10.4% from FY 2024, reaching 793,128 tons in FY 2025, with Del Monte shifting the way it imports tropical fruits from containerized to breakbulk manner. Breakbulk is a means for transporting cargo not in containers but rather as separate pieces.

“The latest record results highlight the vital role SeaPort Manatee plays in our local and regional economy,” Mike Rahn, chairman of the Manatee County Port Authority, says in a statement.

Despite the gains, there were also some decreases. SeaPort Manatee’s containerized cargo volume declined to 919,556 tons in FY 2025 from the record 1,283,027 tons in FY 2024 — more than a 28% drop. In addition, the number of 20-foot-equivalent units (TEUs) the port handled declined to 133,456 from the record 168,897 TEUs in FY 2024, a more than 20% decrease.

The port’s overall increase in cargo came despite complications from Hurricane Milton, which hit a little more than a week after the fiscal year started on Sept. 30, 2024. Warehouses, berths, the container yard, offices and security booths were among the areas damaged by the hurricane, according to Gov. Ron DeSantis, who issued $9.5 million in hurricane relief funds to the port in mid-October 2024.

“SeaPort Manatee has proven its resilience through its rapid recovery from Hurricane Milton,” Carlos Buqueras, SeaPort Manatee’s executive director, says in a statement. “Not only were crucial fuel distribution activities resumed within hours of the storm’s landfall, but the port also swiftly restarted shipments of a host of consumer and industrial goods, including lumber, plywood and aluminum used in our region’s rebuilding process.”

SeaPort Manatee is self-sustaining, generating nearly $7.3 billion in annual economic impacts while providing more than 42,000 direct and indirect jobs, according to a statement. It is the closest deepwater port to the Panama Canal.