This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
3/31/2023
Ports of Indiana has issued a request for qualifications to identify potential operators of the International Ag Shipping Terminal at Ports of Indiana-Burns Harbor, port authority officials announced yesterday.
The 7-million-bushel terminal located on Lake Michigan has transload capabilities for ocean ships, lake vessels, river barges, unit trains and trucks. It's the first time in 44 years that the port authority is seeking a new operator for the terminal, authority officials said in a press release.
Cargill has operated the terminal since 1979, but due to changes in its regional business model the company relinquished the terminal to the port authority effective June 1, port officials said. The terminal has exported more than 500 million bushels of corn and soybeans to world markets since Cargill began operations there.
The grain elevator terminal includes 7.2 million bushels of storage facilities and high-speed loading capacities of up to 90,000 bushels per hour into an ocean vessel and unloading up to 30,000 bushels per hour from a unit train.
Responses to the RFQ are due April 21.
The port offers connections to all Class Is and is served by the Burns Harbor Shortline Railroad Co.
Meanwhile, SeaPort Manatee announced a new direct liner service with Oceanus Line that will provide a link to seaports in Mexico and Colombia and Port Freeport in Texas.
Oceanus Line's X-Press Cotopaxi — which has a capacity of 1,740 20-foot equivalent units — called SeaPort Manatee March 26, port officials said in a press release.
The new Florida Gulf Express service has "launched attractive import and export opportunities via a pair of fast-growing, uncongested U.S. Gulf gateways, with inland rail and truck reach encompassing U.S. Southeast, Northeast, Southwest Midwest markets," officials added.
The service operates every two weeks and runs from Cartagena, Colombia, to SeaPort Manatee, then across the Gulf of Mexico to Port Freeport before heading south to Veracruz, Mexico. On its inaugural rotation, the X-Press Cotopaxi called the Mexican port of Tuxpan.
"This new service further expands connectivity between major Latin American trade partners and Southwest and Central Florida’s vibrant hub of maritime commerce," said SeaPort Manatee Executive Director Carlos Buqueras.
The port is served by Port Manatee Railroad, which operates on 7 miles of track and interchanges with CSX in Palmetto, Florida.