Port Everglades agent bound for Pearl River Delta in exports push
Port Everglades agent may set up shop in Pearl River Delta as it becomes latest US east coast dock to target mainland export market
Port Everglades, on the US east coast, is considering plans to appoint a trade representative in the Pearl River Delta to boost cargo volumes between the region and southern Florida.
The port is the latest on the US east and Gulf coasts to confirm it is targeting Chinese and other Asian exporters, especially with the opening of the expanded Panama Canal in early 2015.
A team from rival Port Miami met more than 70 mainland companies and organisations in Beijing last week to promote plans to develop a bonded trade zone.
Michael Vanderbeek, Port Everglades' business development director, said the trade representative would be based in Hong Kong or Guangdong. He said the port already had a strong sister-port relationship with Xiamen Port Authority.
Vanderbeek, who joined the port in July from the Port of Long Beach, said Asia accounted for only about 7 per cent of Port Everglades' total cargo volumes.
"There is a lot of room for growth," he said. The port is investing US$500 million on infrastructure, including deepening the approach channel to more than 16 metres to make the port one of the deepest on the coast.
Vanderbeek said the port had strong export volumes, and to develop a better balance between inbound and outbound cargo, the port's "focus in Asia is more on imports than exports".