State of the Port 2000

The year just completed was marked by new leadership for the port, growth in cargo, the celebration of a half-century of port development and expansion of facilities. Progress continued on the Port Improvements Program that was authorized by voters in 1997. A new state-of-the-art rail-to-water bulk export facility opened, and quickly attracted cargo – and the attention of discriminating shippers.

Bulk Commodities
The port is poised for an outstanding year in bulk cargo, thanks to new facilities, increased marketing efforts, a new operator for an important asset and an anticipated turnaround in world markets. The acquisition of a new supplier and aggressive marketing indicate anticipated growth in aggregate tonnage, which is tied to significant gains in highway and industrial expansion proj-ects. TGS/BBT, the operator of the rail-to-ship bulk transfer facility, has handled more than 300,000 tons of soda ash via the new facility. The outlook for this facility continues to be very promising, with growth expected to exceed projections for its first full year of operation. The unique rail-to-ship bulk cargo transfer facility is capable of unloading two railcars at a time. This ability enables the port to discharge 116 average railcars per day, each containing an estimated 90 tons of cargo. This discharge rate allows 10,000 tons of material to be loaded into a typical bulk carrier vessel in a 24-hour period. The facility is equipped with a state-of-the art dust suppressor system for an environmentally sound operation.

Bagged Goods
Bagged agricultural commodities continued to grow in 1999 for the second consecutive year. The port continued to develop its relationship with a major sugar importer and has held its own against strong competition for government relief cargo. Bagged goods tonnage is expected to grow as we develop new commercial and government-impelled cargo.

Grain Elevator
The port began the new year by signing on a new operator for the grain elevator. Louis Dreyfus Corp. assumed the lease of the elevator, and is expected to ship about 50 million bushels of grain in the first year of operation.

Forest Products
Forest products grew more than 26 percent in the year just completed, including gains in both bulk wood chips and breakbulk commodities. We anticipate a healthy trend in breakbulk forest products, which consists of woodpulp, hardboard, lumber, plywood and paper products.

Looking Ahead

Thanks to a new operator for the port’s grain elevator, bulk grain ton-nage should rebound this year; the new rail-to-ship transfer facility has already exceeded tonnage expectations for its first quarter of operation, and signs point to a strengthening of the Asian economy and demand for bulk and semi-finished steel products. The port’s marketing team is taking a very aggressive approach to selling our services, and sees several promising new business opportunities in the near future. Demand for import woodpulp, hardboard and other panel products appears to be strong, and these commodities, plus the export wood chips handled through the bulk export terminal, should bolster our forest products tonnage. We will continue to look for new and innovative ways to serve our customers’ needs while strengthening our existing cargo base.

Neches River Improvements
Study begins on possible improvements to the Sabine-Neches Ship Channel.
Southeast Texas entities have assembled the necessary local funds to launch a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study on whether to improve the Sabine-Neches waterway. In mid-1999, the Port of Beaumont was one of the first agencies to commit to helping fund the study by pledg-ing up to one-half million dollars. By year-end, other local entities had followed suit, bringing pledged totals to the required participation level to qualify for Federal appropriation. The study got under way last May when the initial public meeting on the feasibility study was held. The study is expected to cost $7.58 million during the next five years. The Corps study will determine if deepening the channel to 45 - 50 feet and widening it to 500 feet are economically feasible; actual construction of channel improvements requires Federal funding and local financial participation.

Community Outreach
The schools of Southeast Texas hold the engineers, planners, administrators, equipment operators, mechanics and accountants of tomorrow.
In the past year, the Port of Beaumont supported numerous community and school outreach programs designed to make the business of trans-portation real and personal to students in our schools. Some of the pro-grams that employees of the port supported with their time and talents included “Learn to Read,” which funded personalized books for students in first and second grades; the “Choices” program that presents career and education alternatives to high school students, a literacy program aimed at elementary school students, the annual Career Fair of Region V Education Service Center, high school career days, and the annual tree-trimming event sponsored by downtown merchants. In addition, thousands of schoolchildren received guided tours of port facilities.

50th Anniversary Celebration
The 50th Anniversary of the founding of the Port of Beaumont Navigation District provided a year-long theme of observance culminating with a public festival in September.
The eyes of the community were focused on the port for all of 1999 as the 50th birthday of the creation of the navigation district was marked with a series of events and special commemorations. Year-long observances included the creation of a special 50th Anniversary logo for use on all port publications and printing. The slogan “Where Main Street Meets the World,” grew out of an advertising campaign used by the port in the 1950’s and re-cycled for the 50th Anniversary campaign. On a sunny Saturday in the fall of 1999, thousands of Southeast Texans poured through the port’s gates for a free family festival featuring cartoon hero Popeye the Sailorman. Live music, a marching band, industry, cargo and military displays, prize drawings, snacks, children’s games, guest speakers, giveaways and a festive atmosphere greeted all comers.

$28 million Port Improvements Program
The year just completed was marked by progress in the construction of projects authorized by voters in 1997 as part of the Port Improvements Program.

Project Status
Harbor Island Wharf Extension - $ 11 million
This is the largest of all of the projects in the 1997 Port Improvements Program and is the last one to get underway. Valued at $11 million, the project is expected to be completed in March, 2001. The work consists of constructing a new 680-foot extension to Harbor Island wharf, and linking railroad tracks on the new wharf apron to existing tracks. When finished, Harbor Island termi-nal will boast of a continuous wharf 1,880 feet long. The project will help relieve berth congestion at the port’s busiest terminal.

Grain Elevator Improvements - $10.3 million
The final phase of improvements to the grain elevator was completed in the summer of 2000 with the installation of computer controls for new equipment. Construction of the first phase of improvements to the facility began in the spring of 1988 and was completed 10 months later. The project is designed to modernize and upgrade the port’s 3.5 million-bushel grain export facility, boosting the receiving capacity of the grain elevator by 60 percent, from 50,000 to 80,000 bushels per hour.

Orange County Development - $3.2 million
Bond funds will be supplemented by a $1 million grant from the Economic Development Administration to provide access and basic utilities to port-owned property on the East bank of the Neches River. Construction of the roadway and railroad bed was finished early in the year 2000, and crews began laying water and sewer lines beneath the riverbed in the spring. Work is now underway on the first 650 feet of bulkhead, which will establish the future wharf line for development of marine facilities on the East bank of the river.

Railroad/Roadway/Utility Improvements -$ 4 million
These completed projects included expansion of rail holding facili-ties, construction of new railroad tracks and roadways to serve bulk and general cargo facilities, drainage and electrical improvements and construction of a modular building for the military.

The year just completed was a banner year in which the Port of Beaumont celebrated its 50th Anniversary and saw tremendous construction activity on port improvement projects. Here are some of the highlights:

Don Allee Named Executive Director
The port welcomed its new executive director when Donald R. Allee joined the port in mid-summer, 2000. He succeeds Bill Masters, who retired July 31, 2000 after 14 years at the helm. Allee brings to the port many years of experience in marine transportation which began in 1973 in Houston. He comes to the port from Freeport, Texas, where he served as trade development direc-tor for Port Freeport. Allee has also served as director of trade develop-ment for the Port of Houston Authority and has worked for steamship agencies and ocean carriers during his long maritime career.

MSCO Beaumont
In recognition of the Port of Beaumont’s role in strategic mobility, the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command opened a branch office in Southeast Texas in August. The Beaumont office, which is under the command of Lieutenant Commander Chris Arias, supports the U.S. Army’s 596th Transpiration Terminal Group, which is based at the port. The move created six new jobs and brings an annual payroll of $250,000 to the area.

Port Commissioner Appointee
Nell Clark became the first woman to serve as a Port of Beaumont commissioner when she was appointed to serve the remainder of the term of her late husband, Le Roy. A native of Arkansas, Mrs. Clark retired with 30 years of service from Sun Oil Company.

Rail-To-Ship Transfer Facility
A state-of-the-art transfer facility capable of discharging 10,000 tons of dry bulk material per day from railcars to ships was unveiled. The new facility, designed, built and operated by Trans-Global Solutions/Beaumont Bulk Terminal (TGS/BBT), was designed to accommodate export soda ash, but can efficiently handle any free-flowing bulk material.

Port Commissioner Election
Port Commission President W.R. “Bill” Kimbrough and Ward 4 Commissioner George Wm. Gardner were re-elected to new six-year terms. The election of these incumbent commissioners ensures con-tinuation of effective leadership for the port.

Port Handles Giant Vessels

A piece of cargo so big it took two ships to unload was handled by the port in late 1999. The huge pressure vessel was a propylene frac-tionator 321 feet long weighing 665 tons. It and about 150 other vessels of various shapes and dimensions were shipped from manu-facturers in the Far East to a construction site at Fina’s Port Arthur refinery. Cargo such as the huge vessels is known in the shipping industry as “project cargo,” and requires specialized equipment and port facilities. After spending time in the port being prepared for final assembly, the vessels were transported to the jobsite by truck and barge. Then, early this year, the port handled its heaviest sin-gle piece of equipment ever unloaded. Tipping the scales at nearly three million pounds, a reactor vessel bound for the ExxonMobil Refinery was unloaded from a heavy lift ship and tugged across the wharf on a 32-axle modular transporter.

Dreyfus Assumes Grain Elevator Lease
In January, 2000, the port’s grain elevator was placed under the control of Louis Dreyfus Corp., a worldwide trading and merchan-dizing firm based in Wilton, CT. Port commissioners paved the way for the 3.5 million bushel grain elevator to return to full operation when they approved an environmental agreement with Contigroup and Dreyfus. Contigroup, formerly Continental Grain Company, leased the elevator from the port for the past 34 years. In 1995, the port and Continental agreed to a new 20-year lease for the facility. However, Continental was sold to Cargill Inc. in 1998, and the U.S. Justice Dept. forced Cargill to divest itself of the Beaumont elevator. The grain elevator and its new operator quickly established a record in mid-summer, 2000, when the largest cargo in the facility’s history was loaded aboard the m.v. Fairbanks. The 80,000 ton shipment of wheat was destined for Jordan.