South Florida Ports Ride Record Cargo Volumes Into a Year of Big Bets

South Florida’s two seaports are building on record cargo years with major infrastructure investments, even as shifting U.S. tariff policy clouds the outlook for the trade flows that power the regional economy.

PortMiami handled 1,115,058 twenty-foot equivalent units, or TEUs, in fiscal year 2025, a 2.35% increase over the prior year and the port’s 11th consecutive year above the 1 million TEU mark, according to Miami-Dade County. The county called it a banner year for both cargo and cruise passengers.

Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale set its own record, moving 1,167,552 TEUs in fiscal 2025, according to the port’s statistics. The Broward County port ranks as the top U.S. port for trade with the Caribbean and second for Latin America, with roughly 90% of its cargo moving to and from those markets.

Latin America Anchors the Trade Mix

PortMiami is Florida’s leading container port for international trade and ranks 11th nationally by TEU volume, with a cargo mix of 48% Latin America and the Caribbean, 31% Asia and 20% Europe, according to the Florida Ports Council, which values the port’s trade at more than $27 billion.

The record volumes come with heavy reinvestment. PortMiami has completed the second phase of its electric rubber-tired gantry crane project, bringing the total to 18 of the electric cranes at the South Florida Container Terminal, allowing higher container stacking and more efficient yard operations, the county said.

On the cruise side, the county broke ground Jan. 8 on Cruise Terminal G, a $345 million project developed with Royal Caribbean Group. The terminal is scheduled for completion in late 2027 and will be able to handle the world’s largest Icon-class ships, according to Travel and Tour World. Miami Today has reported a pipeline of major projects flowing toward the port.

The wild card is trade policy. Nationally, importers have been pulling shipments forward to beat announced tariff deadlines, with U.S. container imports forecast to set a monthly record of 2.47 million TEUs in July, according to projections cited by industry reports. For South Florida, where port activity supports logistics, warehousing and freight-forwarding jobs across three counties, how those tariff swings settle will shape whether the record run continues into fiscal 2026.