BNSF to serve new plastics export facility in Fort Worth

BNSF Railway Co., real estate developer Hillwood and resin packaging firm Packwell Inc. have agreed on a framework for construction of a new plastics export packaging facility at the AllianceTexas development in north Fort Worth, Texas.

The facility will be built in the rail-connected Alliance Westport industrial sector located at AllianceTexas, a 180,000-acre mixed-use development, according to a press release issued by Hillwood.

The facility will be part of a new route that will enable Packwell to ship containerized plastic resins to end-users using an array of ocean steamship lines that are affiliated partners with BNSF. The steamship lines operate between the BNSF Alliance Intermodal terminal and Asia via the West Coast ports in Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland, Calif.

"BNSF's extensive rail network will give shippers the flexibility to reach multiple international markets faster with the option to move the commodity to the east by interchanging in Chicago, to the west via several West Coast sea ports or to the north into Canada from AllianceTexas," said Richard Miller, BNSF assistant vice president, industrial products sales.

The project's timing aligns with the demand for a new export route for global distribution of plastics.

"The advantage of a facility at AllianceTexas is that it offers superior rail connectivity, access to the largest array of ocean steamship lines, and we can deliver the facility to Packwell in time to support the rapidly increasing demand," said Hillwood President Mike Berry.