Table 5. Port of Panama City annual freight tonnage in 1960-78 (Adapted 

 from Florida Department of Transportation 1978a). 



Year Tons Percent increase 



35.0 

 52.9 

 51.2 

 48.3 



The major cargo of Panama City's port has consistently been bulk wood 

 products (chips and pulp), paper products, and gasoline and fuel oils. Domes- 

 tic gasoline imports account for much of the volume. In 1960-1978, imports 

 were about 500,000 tons per year, or about 40% of the port's total annual ton- 

 nage. Forecasts of general cargo volumes for the port are given in Table 6. 



Table 6. Port of Panama City general cargo tonnage forecast for selected 

 years, 1980-2000 (Florida Department of Transportation 1978a). 



The Port of St. Joe is on the east shore of St. Joseph Bay in Gulf 

 County. Access to the Gulf is provided by a channel 35 ft deep and 300 to 500 

 ft wide. Other means of access to the port are provided by the Intracoastal 

 Waterway (via the Gulf County Canal), the Apalachicola Northern Railroad, and 

 U.S. Highway 98. This port consists of a deepwater wharf approximately 2,600 

 ft long, which accommodates one public and two privately operated terminals. 

 The private terminals are operated by the St. Joe Paper Company and the Hess 

 Oil Company. 



In 1960-78, the port's cargo volume fluctuated widely. In 1975, Port 

 St. Joe moved 463,000 tons of cargo or 0.6% of the State total. No estimates 

 of its throughput capacity were made by the Florida Waterport Systems Study 

 (Florida Department of Transportation 1978a). A summary of the changes in 

 annual port tonnage in 1960-78 is shown in Table 7. 



37 



