Economic recovery has sent gold prices down
At Port Miami, international trade dropped 4.6 percent to $17.6 billion for the period, partly because of a slowdown in apparel trade with the Caribbean Basin, the data showed.
At MIA, the busiest U.S. airport for international freight, trade fell 8.8 percent to $46.7 billion for the period, mainly because of two products: gold and computer chips, said WorldCity President Ken Roberts.
Surging prices for gold after the recession sent the value of South Florida trade soaring, as investors snapped up the metal shipped from Latin America through MIA to Europe and beyond. Economic recovery has sent gold prices down, contributing to last year's dip in South Florida trade, Roberts said.
This year, Miami airport also lost computer-chip business, after Intel Corp. closed a chip plant in Costa Rica and moved that operation to Malaysia, Roberts said.
For the rest of 2014, South Florida trade could dip further, partly because of declining prices for gas and fuel shipped into Port Everglades, Roberts said.
Yet South Florida trade should pick up in 2015, Roberts said, as the hefty impact of gold prices wanes and the region focuses on its core role as the "shopping cart" for Latin America and the Caribbean, shipping goods south.