Indiana Ports Wrap up Record Year
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowAn often-overlooked industry in the state has just completed a hallmark year. Each of the state's three ports recorded major increases and broke multiple records. The Port of Indiana-Jeffersonville surpassed the two million tons of cargo mark for the first time since it opened nearly three-decades ago. Earlier this month, The Port of Indiana-Mount Vernon turned in the highest fourth-quarter shipping total of any port in the statewide organization's history and The Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor handled more shipments than ever before. January 26, 2015
News Release
JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. – The Port of Indiana-Jeffersonville handled over 2.4 million tons of cargo in 2014, up 48 percent from the previous year. This was the first time annual shipments exceeded two million tons in the port's 29-year history.
The 2014 total was 464,000 tons higher than the previous record set in 2006. Another outstanding harvest in 2014 helped push grain tonnage to its highest volume ever breaking the previous record set in 1993. Steel and salt shipments also set all-time records, up 72 percent and 51 percent from 2013, respectively. For the year, the port handled approximately 1,300 barges, 197,000 trucks and 18,000 railcars.
“These robust year-end numbers illustrate the impact our port companies have on the region's economy,” said Ports of Indiana CEO Rich Cooper. “We also had tremendous growth in the port's 'steel campus' in 2014 as five companies announced over $50 million of new investments related to steel processing. The port's access to the Ohio River provides a sustainable competitive advantage for multimodal companies that want to reach world markets from the Midwest.”
In 2014, Mill Steel Co., of Grand Rapids, Mich., opened a new flat-rolled steel service center at the port as part of its purchase and immediate expansion of an existing 105,000 square foot facility at the port. The expansion will more than double the size of the acquired facility and was financed through the use of the port's development financing capabilities.
In addition, the Diez Group, part of the Delaco Steel family of businesses, Dearborn, Mich., and Louisville's Steel Technologies began a new joint-venture operation at the port, Delaco Kasle Processing of Indiana. The new operation will expand the former venture's 120,000 square-foot-facility, which has operated since 2004, to 226,000 square feet and process aluminum, steel coils and blanks for the automotive, appliance and agricultural industries. Three long-term port companies, Voss Clark, Steel Dynamics and Metals USA also made major investments to accelerate line speeds, increase capacity and improve high-strength steel processing. The port now has 13 steel-related businesses located on its “steel campus” offering processing, warehousing, stevedoring and distribution services.
“This is a transformational time for our port,” said Port Director Scott Stewart. “The shipping records, major company investments and the construction of a new Ohio River bridge are all strong indicators of future economic growth in this region. When the new interstate bridge opens in 2016 just a mile away, this port will have significantly improved access to new markets in the region stretching from Louisville and Cincinnati to Lexington and Nashville.”
The $2.6 billion Louisville Southern Indiana Ohio River Bridges Project is one of the nation's largest infrastructure projects and a key driver for port growth.
The port now has 28 companies and 325 acres of industrial sites available for multimodal businesses that utilize river and rail transportation. The Port of Indiana-Jeffersonville has year-round barge service to 20+ states and ocean vessels in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as rail service provided by CSX, Louisville-Indiana Railroad and onsite switching operations by MG Rail.
About the Port: The Port of Indiana-Jeffersonville opened in 1985 and is one of three facilities operated by Ports of Indiana on the Ohio River and Lake Michigan. Established in 1961, the Ports of Indiana is a self-funded port authority dedicated to growing Indiana's economy by developing a world-class port system. Information: portsofindiana.com
Source: The Ports of Indiana
New Release
Originally Posted January 21, 2015
MOUNT VERNON, Ind. – The Port of Indiana-Mount Vernon handled 735,000 tons of cargo in December, which was the highest ever single-month total at any of Indiana's three ports, and also produced the highest fourth-quarter shipments by any port in Ports of Indiana history.
December's results were 31 percent higher than the previous single-month record set in 1993 and the port's fourth quarter shipments broke its own quarterly record established in 2013. The port finished 2014 with 4.85 million tons, up 17 percent from 2013 and the highest annual total since 1994. Coal, grain, ethanol, dried distiller grains (DDG) and steel were the dominant cargoes in 2014.
“Mount Vernon ranks as the seventh largest port on the Inland Waterways System and it serves as a major multimodal hub for this region of our state as well as Southeast Illinois and Western Kentucky,” said Rich Cooper, CEO for the Ports of Indiana. “Companies at this port ship cargoes to and from 44 states and 25 different countries. With this kind of reach, it clearly demonstrates the impact port companies and users in the southwestern part of our state have on the regional, national and global economy.”
Valero Renewable Fuels Co.'s acquisition of the ethanol plant located within the port continues to positively influence ethanol and DDG volumes. Valero Renewables is a subsidiary of Valero Energy Corp., the 10th largest Fortune 500 Company in the U.S. Other port companies contributing significant increases in 2014 cargoes included Alliance Coal's Mount Vernon Transfer Terminal, Consolidated Grain and Barge's grain merchandising and soybean processing divisions and Consolidated Terminals and Logistics Co. handling steel through the port's general cargo terminal.
“We have a tremendous group of port companies that are recognized as industry leaders,” said Port Director Phil Wilzbacher. “With coal shipments surging in December, Mount Vernon Transfer Terminal employees were put to the test and responded admirably, sometimes unloading two unit trains a day and setting a new record for its December tonnage. Back-to-back record corn and soybean harvests in 2013 and 2014 kept Consolidated Grain and Barge extremely busy throughout the year but the CGB employees proved they could handle the challenge and did an exceptional job ending the year with an all-time high for grain-related shipments.”
The port handled approximately 2,500 barges, 130,000 trucks and 25,000 railcars in 2014. Located in Southwest Indiana near Evansville, the state's third largest city, and the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, the port connects the Midwest to the world with year-round access to the Gulf of Mexico and Great Lakes through the Inland Waterway System. Barges shipped to and from the port can be transloaded with ocean vessels in the Gulf for global shipments. Rail service offers potential connections to five Class I railroads and access to interstates I-64 and I-69 is available via Indiana 62 and 69. The port recently expanded and now has 600 acres available for development.
About the Port of Indiana-Mount Vernon
The Port of Indiana-Mount Vernon opened in 1976 and is operated by Ports of Indiana, a statewide port authority operating three ports on the Ohio River and Lake Michigan. Established in 1961, the Ports of Indiana is a self-funded enterprise dedicated to growing Indiana's economy by developing and maintaining a world-class port system. For more information, visit www.portsofindiana.com.
Source: Port of Indiana-Mount Vernon
News Release
Originally Posted January 14, 2015
Portage, Ind. — The Port of Indiana-Burns