Amalie and the State of the Port of Tampa

The last four years have been really good years for Amalie; we have grown and expect to grow even more beginning in 2013.  2009, 2010 and 2011 were record years for Amalie; each one better than the year before.  Some of this can be seen in the capital improvements we have made to what was our existing plant and the acquisition of additional property within the port to allow us to grow even more.  Domestic business was flat for most of 2012, but our export business continued to grow.  We are experiencing growth in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, Russia and the Far East.  Regulation problems and the poor economic conditions in Europe proper have somewhat stalled our growth in Europe, but Sweden continues to be a bright spot for us.  We have just acquired a new customer in Turkey and we hope that another Turkish prospect turns into a new customer soon.  We are looking for new business in Africa and could really use additional carriers to service this area.
 
We have also added employees and hope to continue adding good people for good jobs.  We pride ourselves on our retention rate and think that we offer a good employment package and an opportunity for individual job growth within our family of employees.
 
ESPN had a film crew here and did a piece on us that we expect to air sometime in 2013.  We have seen a draft cut and think that Amalie and the port are shown in a very good light.  If you would like a copy, let me know and I will get one to you.
 
We need more shipping lines to help accommodate our shipping needs.  Here is hoping that the new ZIM deal will give us access to more port cities.  We are proud members of the Port of Tampa, and really hate the fact that we have to move cargo out of Jacksonville, Miami and Savannah.  Wade Elliott, Greg Lovelace, Jim Pyburn and John Thorington all know that we understand the importance of the port and the need for additional carriers calling on the port, and that we will do whatever it takes to help the port solicit new carriers.  With our port location, if we had additional carriers calling on new and different port cities, we believe that we could more than double our outbound Tampa freight.
 
We have just signed two new and rather large domestic clients that should enliven our domestic business.  Even though it doesn’t ship out across the docks, increased domestic business means that we will need to bring in more raw materials across the docks and increase the value we bring to the port.  New domestic business should engage us with the port’s new CSX terminal, too.
 
We see only a positive trend.