Port Expansion: Brunswick, Tampa
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Georgia Ports Authority Adding 100 Acres to Colonel Island Auto Terminal in Brunswick
Three auto carriers berthed at Georgia Ports Authority rapidly growing Colonel Island Auto Terminal in Brunswick. With 652 acres of auto processing space available for development, the port is poised for continued expansion.
Photo: Georgia Ports Authority/Jim Carswell
Georgia Port Authority’s terminal complex in the Port of Brunswick is growing and bustling with activity. In his annual State of the Port address, GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch announced a 100-acre expansion of the Colonel's Island auto terminal, and welcomed Logistec's completion of a wood pellet storage facility at GPA's East River Terminal.
"The additional 100 acres will allow GPA to grow along with our existing customers, and to attract additional carmakers to the nation's second busiest auto port," Mr. Lynch said. "This new roll-on/roll-off capacity is part of an initiative to service a growing market, while staying 20 percent ahead of our current demand."
Twenty of the 100 acres are paved and in use by Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics, while International Auto Processing has leased another 49 acres it will occupy by May 2017. Just last month, the GPA Board of Directors approved the development of a separate 30-acre parcel, which should come online in January.
The long-term plan for Colonel's Island's south side calls for the addition of 540 acres of GPA-owned land to the auto processing operation. Another 140 south side acres owned by Mercedes and International Auto Processing brings Brunswick's total vehicle space to 1,039 acres.
Throughput at the Colonel’s Island autoport experienced a compound annual growth rate of 11.9 percent from FY 2006 to FY2016. Fiscal Year 2016 was the fourth straight year that auto volumes in Brunswick topped 600,000 units.
Logistec, an international terminal operating company, just opened two new warehouses totaling 221,675 square feet for wood pellet storage along the Brunswick River.
Wood pellets are a renewable biomass fuel source shipped largely to Northern Europe. The pellets are sourced mainly from the Georgia forestry industry. This improved infrastructure will aid GPA's efforts to support Georgia's forest products sector.
"These modern buildings are a part of Logistec's commitment to upgrade and expand its dry bulk facilities in Brunswick. Our terminal is ideally suited to biomass cargo handling, and we look forward to working with the Georgia Ports Authority and our customers to meet long-term growth demands," said Madeleine Paquin, president and CEO of Logistec. "We are committed to doing business here for the long term. With the addition of these warehouses, we can store higher volumes and have increased our throughput capacity."
Logistec expects the newly opened facilities will handle more than 600,000 tons of wood pellets annually. The new buildings represent a 101 percent increase in capacity compared to the two previous warehouses.
GPA’s Brunswick terminals processed 2.8 million short tons of cargo in FY 2016, with Colonel’s Island accounting for 1,753,128 tons, East River for 923,230 tons, and Mayor’s Point for 161,333 tons.
Logistec’s new wood pellet storage facilities at the GPA’s East River Terminal in Brunswick
Photo/Georgia Ports Authority, Jim Carswell
Port Logistics Refrigerated Services Begins Construction of New Cold Storage Facility at Port Tampa Bay
Rendering of the 134,000 square foot cold storage facility under construction at Port Tampa Bay for Port Logistics Refrigerated Services
Source: Port Tampa Bay
Scheduled to open in the summer of 2017, the new facility will have more than 9,000 pallet positions to accommodate both chilled and frozen products. Food-grade glycol refrigerant will be used throughout the warehouse. The facility will be equipped with include 96 refrigerated container plugs and have onsite USDA/CBP inspection and fumigation services. It will be located on a 13.7-acre site adjacent to Berth 219, and will handle both palletized breakbulk cargo and reefer containers.
Port Logistics Refrigerated Services management has extensive expertise in all aspects of stevedoring, warehousing and terminal operations. A dedicated mobile harbor crane will serve the facility.
Tampa developer Richard Corbett is partnering in the financing of the project on behalf of Port Logistics Refrigerated Services.
The Tampa Bay/Orlando I-4 Corridor serves a major concentration of food and beverage businesses. Publix, Sysco's International Food Group, Gordon Food Service, Walmart/Sam's Club, Winn-Dixie, Trader-Joes, Save-a-lot, Aldi, United Natural Foods, Vigo/Alessi, Goya, Mario Camacho, Southern Wine & Spirits, Break-Thru Beverage, Coca Cola/Minute Maid, PepsiCo/Tropicana, Cutrale, Florida's Natural, Citrus World, Wish Farms, Tampa Juice, Bama Sea Products, and Tampa Bay Fisheries, for example, all have a significant presence in the area.
"We are excited about this opportunity to partner with Port Logistics Refrigerated Services and Dick Corbett," said Port Tampa Bay CEO Paul Anderson. "This project supports our strategic plans for growth and diversification, as well as our recent terminal expansion investments, including the new post-Panamax container cranes which were commissioned in July."
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