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Yesterday, CN and North America Stevedoring Co. L.L.C. announced plans to build a multi-modal steel transloading facility in Chicago.

To be located at the Port of Chicago — about 13 miles south of downtown Chicago — in early 2011, the facility will provide rail, truck, intermodal container, inland barge and ocean-going services for steel coil, sheet, plate, bar, structural, pipe and tube products, as well as dimensional and heavy equipment loads.

The “Chicago Metals & Minerals Transload” facility will provide CN and North America Stevedoring a “strong foothold” in the North American steel market, CN officials said in a prepared statement. About half of the continent’s steel production and consumption occurs within a 300-mile radius of Chicago. In addition, CN and North America Stevedoring expect to tap new port gateways for imported and exported steel.

“CN will serve the facility directly, tying it into our North American rail network reaching the Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific coasts,” said Jean-Jacques Ruest, CN’s executive vice president and chief marketing officer.