Cemex and Port Tampa Bay completed a $36 million expansion of a marine aggregate terminal that will increase the flow of raw construction materials into Tampa Bay as developers push to keep pace with rising housing and infrastructure demand across Florida.
The project includes a $29 million investment from Cemex and a $7 million grant from the Florida Department of Transportation. Company executives joined Port Tampa Bay officials and Tampa Mayor Jane Castor on Thursday to mark the terminal’s opening.
The expansion comes as builders across Florida face increasing pressure to secure reliable supplies of aggregate, the crushed stone used in concrete, asphalt and large-scale infrastructure projects. A steady pipeline of apartment, industrial, transportation and public works developments across Tampa Bay has increased demand for those materials in recent years.
Cemex said the terminal will import aggregate from Newfoundland, Canada, through Port Tampa Bay’s deepwater berths using a conveying system capable of moving 5,000 tons per hour from ship to storage. The company expects the facility to handle roughly 1.5 million tons annually depending on shipping conditions.
The site now combines an aggregate terminal, cement terminal and ready-mix concrete plant in one location, making it the only integrated Cemex operation of its kind in Florida.
“The completion of our Aggregate Terminal at Port Tampa Bay strengthens Cemex’s ability to serve one of Florida’s fastest-growing regions with the essential materials needed to build and maintain critical infrastructure,” Jesus Gonzalez, president of Cemex US, said in a statement.
The project expands Port Tampa Bay’s role in Florida’s industrial supply chain as population growth and infrastructure spending continue driving freight and construction activity across the state.
“Port Tampa Bay is proud to support Cemex’s growing operations and the broader Tampa Bay economy,” Port Tampa Bay President and CEO Paul Anderson said in a statement.
Read More Tampa Bay Business News
Explore the latest Tampa Bay business news, real estate deals, development projects, executive moves and company updates shaping the region.