Bulking Up

 

The energy sector is often front and center when the discussion revolves around breakbulk and heavy-lift cargoes.  Windmills, on land or anchored to the ocean floor, have been all the rage for the past several years. And why not? Energy makes the world go around - whether it's green or liquid gold.

Dry bulk is another sector critical to our developing society. However, dry bulk products, like breakbulk cargoes, would not be as available or accessible were it not for the ports around the world that provide entry to needed destinations.

Sunshine State

Look at the state of Florida, for example.

Florida had the fastest-growing population in the U.S. between 2020 and 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau – over eight percent. Population growth means residential, urban and commercial development and the need for new infrastructure like homes, roads, bridges and buildings. These projects, large and small, need materials, and the Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPORT) is a good example of how ports interact with suppliers, builders and contractors.

"The bulk market at JAXPORT consists of the import of stone and aggregates for use in the state of Florida's highway construction program, as well as in the housing industry, to support the growing population in northeast Florida as well as throughout the state,” the port says in a statement. “A 60% increase in dry bulk throughput between 2022 and 2023 underscores the importance of this cargo and the port's involvement."

Martin Marietta and Cemex are among the dry bulk companies that operate at JAXPORT.

Martin Marietta is a national supplier of building materials including aggregates (natural raw materials such as gravel), cement and ready-mixed concrete. "We're a mining company," says Chris Wilson, Area Sales Manager. "We mine and sell rocks. Rocks are everywhere - in your house, in sidewalks, in roads-everywhere.”

He says "JAXPORT is a major contributor to Florida's roadways," noting that granite aggregates account for half his company's business. The other half is limestone aggregates, used to make concrete for homes and warehouses and much more.

"Not many people realize that the larger role we play at JAXPORT is we support Florida infrastructure," he adds. "Without us here at the port, we wouldn't have the number of roadways we have to drive on, that's for sure.”

Long-time tenant Cemex, a global supplier of cement, ready-mix concrete and aggregates, has been approved as an aggregate source by the Florida Department of Transportation. Devon Coppock, Cemex's Director of Market Development, said in a JAXPORT article recently that in 2024 Cemex brought in 500,000 tons of aggregates. Because there's a limited supply of quality limestone available in certain areas of Florida, it's important to bring aggregates into the state.

“That's important for JAXPORT,” Coppock says. "We've been a longtime tenant at JAXPORT, and we look forward to continuing that relationship.”

Port Tampa Bay also realizes the vital role breakbulk plays in the state's infrastructure development.

“Breakbulk cargo is an important element of Port TampaBay's diverse cargo mix, serving Florida's fast-growing building and construction industry – everything from critical highway projects to residential and commercial construction,” notes Greg Lovelace, the port's Senior Vice President of Marketing & Business Development.

“Besides breakbulk cargo, there are other categories such as containers, dry bulk, liquid bulk and ro-ro that also feed the strong construction market in Florida,” he adds. “Steel makes up the majority of our general cargo shipments with the primary sources being Vietnam and South Korea. Steel coils and pipe are the predominant products and are used in the residential and commercial construction industry as well as in mining.”

Port Tampa Bay continues to invest in its infrastructure to accommodate breakbulk cargo with two new transit sheds to be built by the end of 2025 to meet demand for inside storage and the addition of new mobile harbor cranes to provide additional lift capacity.

Lone Star State

In 2024, the Port of Galveston handled 517,000 tons of breakbulk including ro-ro, project cargo and general cargo with the majority imported from Europe and Asia. Products included farm equipment, crane parts, generators/transformers, steel beams and heavy equipment plus military household goods and personal vehicles.

Project cargo consisted of wind turbine components, primarily GE and Siemens-Gamesa wind turbine blades. Galveston has been handling the import of wind turbine pieces since the early 2000s. They're moved by rail and truck to wind farms in Texas, New Mexico and other states in the central U.S.

Galveston is investing over $77 million in its cargo infrastructure to generate more jobs and revenues, says Port Director & CEO Roger Rees.

In 2024, the port began phased construction to improve and expand its West Port Cargo Complex, the centralized area for the majority of its cargo movements. A future phase will include filling two slips. When completed, the work between piers 30 and 41 will add approximately 31 acres to the 64-acre cargo area on the deepwater Galveston Harbor.

Golden State

On the West Coast, Greg Borossay, Principal-Maritime Business Development, Port of San Diego, says, “Breakbulk cargo continues to be a part of the port's long-term economic growth strategy, and the port is committed to investing in innovative maritime operations, sustainable infrastructure and expanded service lines to further enhance its leadership in handling breakbulk cargo.”

Breakbulk cargoes include engines, steel, turbines, propellers, windmill components, transforners, generators and even yachts from Europe and Asia. In addition to its cargo operations, San Diego is one of only 18 designated strategic ports in the U.S. that support the movement of military cargo.

As equipment and infrastructure come to the end of their useful lives, the port upgrades its capabilities to meet the needs of the breakbulk industry. “A good example is the deployment of our two all-electric mobile harbor cranes, each of which has a lifting capacity of 200 metric tons and a combined capacity of 400 metric tons, making us the port with the heaviest lifting capacity on the West Coast,” Borossay notes. 

To date, the port and its partners have committed more than $227 million toward projects that support modern and sustainable maritime operations including electrical infrastructure, electric cargo-handling equipment and technology deployment, berth rehabilitation and at-berth emissions reduction equipment.

Rebranding, Southern Style

Down south, meanwhile, the port of Pascagoula, Mississippi announced last year a new vision and rebranding complete with a fresh logo as part of Port Director Bo Ethridge's plan to expand operations and attract new business. Strategically located on the east side of the mouth of the Pascagoula River, on the Gulf of Mexico, Port Pascagoula is already one of the top 30 ports in the U.S.

Caroline Nettles, the port's External Affairs & Marketing Manager, says the new branding and strategic direction have been very well received as the port opens new doors for partnerships and growth: “For example, the port had 32 vessel calls to our public terminals in 2024, and we've already surpassed that number in Q1 of 2025 and are on track for 100-plus vessel calls this year.” 

Momentum in the breakbulk sector is strong. “In 2024, we moved approximately 845,000 total tons of bulk and breakbulk cargo through our public terminals,” notes Nettles, “specializing primarily in forest products including logs, liner board and lumber. We recently added wood chips to our cargo base as well.” The port also handled steel products and completed several heavy-lift/project cargo, movements with plans to expand that activity even further this year.

The port's exports reach a broad range of global markets including India, the Dominican Republic, Japan, Honduras, Jamaica and Haiti.

“In terms of infrastructure,” she added, “we continue to make improvements across the port with the support of multimodal grant funding, ensuring our terminals are ready to accommodate a wide variety of breakbulk and project cargo needs.” – MarEx

 

Tom Peters is the magazine's ports columnist.