PortMiami lures sea-rail freight deals with Mexico

PortMiami and Grupo Mexico Transportes, which acquired Florida East Coast (FEC) Railway, were hosting 120 Mexican companies and government officials at Terminal E this week to promote PortMiami as a preferred gateway for Mexican products, said a PortMiami spokesperson.

“We believe these efforts will make the new USMCA Highway a rail/water/rail route to avoid congestion and truck idling that products headed to Florida currently experience at the land border, since 97% of all Mexican cargo coming into Florida arrives through the border,” said the spokesperson. “Switching to rail and ocean transport saves time, money, and reduces emissions, especially as nearshoring is moving to Southern Mexico.”

In August 2022, the US Department of Transportation announced that PortMiami would receive $16 million from the Rebuilding America Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) fund for its NetZero: Cargo Mobility Optimization and Resiliency Project, which aims to convert the entire cargo movement to carbon neural operation.

The grant would fund two sets of railway tracks and three new electric rubber-tire gantry cranes at PortMiami. It would also fund reconstruction of the stormwater drainage to address sea level rise, cargo gate improvements, including roadway realignment, gate canopies, and other technology upgrades for faster movement of cargo and reduced dwelling time for trucks.

“These infrastructure improvements will increase capacity for up to four trains daily,” said the spokesperson. “Currently, our [FEC] on-dock intermodal rail offers the fastest access to reach 70% of the US population in one to four days. We are working closely with our rail partners at FEC/Grupo Mexico to increase usage.”

Last year, the spokesperson added, was PortMiami’s “busiest year on record, so we remained at a historical high, with a slight decrease as spending habits have changed.”

For the 2022 fiscal year, PortMiami’s biggest overall trade partner continued to be China, with 118,658 20-foot-equivalent units (TEUs), followed by Honduras with 90,502 TEUs, Dominican Republic with 73,782, Italy with 50,968 and Guatemala with 44,505, according to PIERS.

For imports, China remained at the top with 114,451 TEUs, followed by Honduras with 44,891 TEUs of imports, Italy with 44,873, Dominican Republic with 34,771, and Guatemala with 29,574.

PortMiami’s biggest export partners were Honduras with 45,611 TEUs, Dominican Republic with 39,011, Jamaica with 22,114, El Salvador with 15,919, and Colombia with 15,437 exported.

China’s overall trade was valued at more than $12 billion in 2022; Honduras’s overall trade was more than $9.6 billion; Dominican Republic, $5 billion; and Vietnam, $1.8 billion.

Imports from China were valued at $5 billion; from Dominican Republic, $2.16 billion; from Honduras, $1.85 billion; Italy $1.24 billion; and El Salvador $862.6 million, according to PIERS.

Exports to Honduras were valued at $7.77 billion; to China, $7.1 billion; to Dominican Republic, $2.8 billion, to India and Taiwan, $1.3 billion each; and to Jamaica, $1.26 billion.

In 2022, PortMiami had 819 cargo ships docked, totaling 1,197,663 TEUs and a total value of $55 billion. The most imported commodities included fruits and vegetables, apparel and textiles, furniture, machinery, plastics and rubber, beverages, iron, steel and aluminum, and ceramics and glass.

The most exported commodities were vehicle parts, apparel and textiles, machinery, fruits and vegetables, iron, steel and aluminum, and furniture, in that order, according to PIERS. Scrap metal was the commodity with the highest value reported, $19.4 billion.

Miami-Dade County could look into using or buying the existing and dormant CSX Transportation tracks to develop more passenger transit, possibly expanding Tri-Rail. One set of tracks runs west alongside the Dolphin Expressway from Miami International Airport toward the Tamiami area. CSX has also been discussing with the county maintaining some freight rail service.

“Any restoration or increased usage of rail in Miami-Dade County could have positive effects by increasing rail cargo capacity and competitiveness for our customers,” said the PortMiami spokesperson.

One to two trains currently run into and out of PortMiami per day, the spokesperson added. With the infrastructure improvements funded by the RAISE grant, capacity is expected to increase to up to four trains daily.

Florida East Coast Rail accounts for 5% of PortMiami’s volume, said the spokesperson. “With infrastructure improvements, a focus on new markets, and increased movement of cargo by rail, we expect these numbers to grow.”