b'16American Journal ofTransportation ajot.comShip to Chicago in 3 days. Aerial view of Port of Panama City East Terminal(GULFcontinued from page 14) (CFS) West Terminal to the growth in muchofthecountryspentlast yearcontainer business with Mexico. dealing with supply chain disruptions,Mexicohasbeenanotherbright PortPanamaCitywasfocusedonspot for the port. In 2022 King repre-securingadditionalcargothatwouldsented the Florida Ports Council on an normally move through gateway portsEconomic Trade Mission to Mexico. in other states. Our port has become anFor Port Panama City that has trans-attractiveoptionforbreakbulkforestlated into a 10% increase in trade.products and other cargoes.In January 2023, the Panama City InmanyrespectsPortPanamaPort Authority board approved a plan City became a breakbulk port alter- to expand the East Terminal by adding nativeformanyshippers.Indeed,an additional 27 acres to the existing Port Panama City handled more than54 acres. James Cook, the board chair-450,000 tons of breakbulk forest prod- man, elaborated on the plan saying it ucts and lumber in 2022, with 230,000would double the terminals capacity. tons of that cargo moving through theThe additional land would enable the East Terminal which opened for oper- berth to be expanded to 900 feet. Cur-ation in 2020. rently,theterminalcanhandleone-Besides the East Terminal with itsshipandaveragesonlyoneortwo 260,000 sq/ft warehouse and 900 footship calls a month. The pier expan-bulkhead, the Port has made a numbersion would allow the port to handle of recent investments in its infrastruc- two ships at a time and also provide ture,theseinclude:abiomassbulkthe space for more warehousing.dome on the 138-acre West Terminal; anIntermodalDistributionCenterp oRt ofM oBile , al(IDC)SiteDevelopmentforaddi- The Port of Mobile, like many of tional on-site tenants; development ofthe Gulf ports, posted a record year aFedExGroundRegionalDistribu- in2022. The AlabamaPort Author-tion Center at the IDC and a 70,000itysaidthePortofMobiletalliedALports.comsq/ft on port Container Freight Station563,191 TEUs in 2022the ninth year the Port of Mobile posted double- theoveralldecline,somecontainer digit growth since 2009. The 563,191market segments have shown strong TEUs were 11% over 2021, anothergrowth,includingrefrigeratedcon-very good year for the port.However,tainers, which have increased by 22% with tepid demand, container demandyear-to-datein Apriland44%year-intheU.S.hasfallen,withMobileover-year.Intermodalvolumeshave seeing a 7.8% decline through Aprilalso seen growth of 58% year-to-date year-to-date vs. 2022.through April.Bothpricinganddemandcon- Intermodalrailvolumescontin-tinuetobedepressedglobally,andued a 31-month record of triple-digit rates have subsided from peaks seengrowth, ending the year at 142 percent throughoutthepandemic.Despiteover 2021. Additionally, the container terminal handled a record 312 vessels, an increase of 75 vessels from 2022. InMay2022,the AlabamaPort Authority also entered an agreement with APM Terminals which will add 32 acres to the existing 134-acre facil-ityandboostthefacilitysannual throughputcapacitytoonemillion TEUs in the Phase IV expansion. In addition to the terminal expansion and theharbordeepeningandwidening project,the AlabamaPort Authority planstodeveloplogisticsfacilities inMobileandopenanewinland intermodal facility served by CSX in Montgomery, Ala. These projects are set to begin operation in 2025. Other planned investments include constructing a fly-over bridge to create on-dockrailaccessatthecontainer terminal,modernizinggeneralcargo piers, and developing an inland inter-modal facility in North Alabama.InMarch2023,Enstructure,a leadingU.S.marineterminaland logisticscompany,announcedithas acquiredRichardsonCompanies. Richardson,abreakbulkspecialist, (GULFcontinued on page 18)'