Known as the Cargo Gateway of the Americas, PortMiami is one of the leading container ports in the nation. Trade with Latin America and the Caribbean comprise more than half the Port’s cargo business.  PortMiami is a major North-South logistics hub that benefits from the strength of the Latin American economies and growing markets. The Port primarily handles containerized cargo and small amounts of break bulk, vehicles and industrial equipment.

Principal cargo passing through PortMiami include:

• Fruits and vegetables
• Apparel and textiles
• Non-refrigerated food products
• Paper
• Electronic equipment
• Stone, clay and cement tiles
• Construction and industrial equipment
• Trucks, buses, and automobiles

 
Four types of cargo operations occur at PortMiami:

• Roll-on/roll-off (Ro / Ro) container operations
• Lift-on/lift-off (Lo / Lo) container operations
• Break-bulk cargo operations
• Vehicle exports

In 2012 PortMiami's cargo shipments saw a modest increase over the previous year, shipping more than 900,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) annually.

• PortMiami: Hub of transhipment between Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe

Given PortMiami's state-of-the-art fumigation capacity and its close proximity to Central and South America, we are a favored location for the import of perishables. PortMiami’s fumigation system offers quarantine installation for each container with the capacity to process as many as 70 containers a day. PortMiami has also created the Florida Perishables Trade Coalition to promote an increase in perishables as well as fresher, less costly produce for U.S. consumers. PortMiami offers over 1,000 refrigeration plugs and can process more than 900 refrigerated containers a day, a service that allows us to fully service global shipping lines.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has launched new technology at PortMiami allowing CBP officers and agriculture specialists to release inspected cargo in real-time.

The ELMO project (Enforcement Link to Mobile Operations), introduced at PortMiami in January 2012, has been declared a success by shippers and terminal operators alike, helping PortMiami record some of the fastest inspection turnaround times in the nation. Containers processed by field officers using the new handheld device are now released in real-time and ready to move off-port in just minutes.

Faster processing of containers increases time-to-market efficiencies at the nearby Florida East Coast Rail Yards. Containers that had previously taken hours to process, today reach the rail yard sooner, saving days in transit time.