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Port of Jacksonville benefits for SMEs conducting international trade

JAXPORT is an international trade seaport in Northeast Florida, offering service from dozens of ocean carriers connecting Jacksonville to 140 ports in more than 70 countries. The port owns, maintains and markets three cargo terminals, two intermodal container transfer facilities and a passenger cruise terminal along the St. Johns River.


JAXPORT is Florida’s largest container port and one of the nation’s top vehicle-handling ports. As a landlord port, JAXPORT’s terminal operators handle the cargo that moves through from the terminals. Cargo types include containers, autos, breakbulk (outside of a container), bulk, forest products, fresh and frozen, heavy lift, high and heavy, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and military equipment.


The port’s strategic location offers SMEs several advantages to reach consumers and businesses in the U.S. Southeast:

  • JAXPORT is served by three major interstates, three railroads, and 40 daily trains. More than 98 million U.S. consumers live within a day’s drive of Jacksonville.

  • Jacksonville also offers 156 million square feet of industrial space. These distribution points receive cargo from JAXPORT’s three marine terminals, which enjoy worldwide carrier services and are capable of handling every type of general and project cargo.

  • Warehouses have the opportunity to join JAXPORT’s Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) No. 64. An FTZ is a secured site within the United States, but technically considered outside of U.S. Customs’ jurisdiction, allowing shippers not to clear cargo until it leaves the FTZ while saving on import clearance costs.

JAXPORT and agency partners have invested more than $2.5 billion in terminals, equipment, and access, and plan to infuse more in the coming years. In 2022, the Jacksonville Harbor Deepening Project was completed through Blount Island, providing a 47-foot channel depth for larger vessels calling JAXPORT. The project included the construction of a vessel turning basin that now allows larger ships to turn around at Blount Island berths. In coordination with deepening, JAXPORT has also completed $100 million in berth enhancements to enable the SSA Jacksonville Container Terminal at Blount Island to simultaneously accommodate two post-Panamax ships.


Sustainability is part of JAXPORT’s strategic plan. JAXPORT has six electric container cranes at the Blount Island Marine Terminal. The cranes work on regenerative power, consuming power while lifting containers and creating energy as they lower. Together, the berth improvements and eco-friendly cranes increase energy efficiencies, reduce emissions from diesel-powered cranes and enhance night-time operations by adding high-powered LED lighting.


JAXPORT partnered with two port tenants, SSA Jacksonville and Crowley, for the JAXPORT EXPRESS project, a $47 million public-private partnership that supports sustainability initiatives at the port’s Blount Island and Talleyrand marine terminals.

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