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Texan port confident of weathering Trump’s tariff storm

At Brownsville, a gateway for steel into Mexico, bilateral trade shows no signs of cooling

BY JUDE WEBBER / Financial Times

Article published Tuesday, July 24, 2018

A huge crane unloads giant steel slabs off a ship from Russia, destined for factories in Mexico. Queues of trucks, some of the 800 a day heading across the border, fill up with oil products. Steel coils, animal feed, sugar and colossal wind turbines lie in warehouses or lots awaiting their journey south.

This is the Port of Brownsville in Texas, the biggest gateway for steel into Mexico, a big handler of US oil products heading over the border and the front line in Washington’s escalating trade war with its neighbour and Nafta partner. The US ratcheted up tensions this month by filing complaints against Mexico and other countries at the World Trade Organiza

Home Sweet Home: Newly Renovated Administration Complex Opens in August

BROWNSVILLE, Texas — There is no place like home.

After 18 months, the Brownsville Navigation District and Port of Brownsville staff returns to their home in the completely repurposed and enlarged administration office campus at 1000 Foust Road.

In January 2017, the port’s administrative offices were temporary relocated to the Keppel AmFELS complex at 20000 SH 48 while the port’s main building underwent a needed renovation and expansion.

The renovated office campus adds 12,473 square feet of new office space for a total of 26,500 square feet. The project included remodeling the two existing pods, adding a third pod, and building a new office adjacent to the port’s Foust Road entrance to accommodate a truck permitting office with a truck staging area and a modern records facility.

The repurposed offices have been completely gutted, retrofitted and cost-effectively mode

Port of Brownsville Releases New Directory

BROWNSVILLE, Texas — The Port of Brownsville released its comprehensive directory for 2018. The marketing and communications tool is an annual guide featuring in-depth articles, facts and details about the port and related industries.

The full color, 88-page publication serves as a useful guide for prospective clients looking to establish business opportunities in the region and for the community at large to learn more about the port’s role as a vital economic engine of the Rio Grande Valley.

The publication includes a detailed 4-page map of the port’s facilities highlighting tenants, docks, sheds, patios and other important assets. The business directory contains approximately 300 local, regional, state, national and international businesses listed in 63 different categories.

The directory is distributed to industry related companies and associations, area economic develo

USS Tripoli comes to Brownsville for scrapping

BY STEVE CLARK/The Brownsville Herald

Article published Thursday, July 19, 2018

Fifty-three years after it was launched from the Ingalls Shipbuilding yard in Pascagoula, Miss., the 598-foot amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LPH 10) is now in for dismantling by International Shipbreaking LLC, part of the EMR Group.

The vessel was decommissioned and struck from the naval register in 1995 after nearly 30 years in service. The Tripoli was one of seven Iwo Jima-class amphibious assault ships, the first vessels of their type designed as helicopter carriers. LPH stands for “Landing Platform Helicopter.” The first ship of the class, the Iwo Jima (LPH 2), was scrapped in 1996 in Brownsville.

The Tripoli completed three deployments to Vietnam during its career and was the first amphibious warship to carry a full squadron of AV-8 Harrier short-takeoff/vert

Hopes High for a Bountiful Shrimping Season

BROWNSVILLE, Texas – With the 2018 Gulf shrimp season under way, local shrimpers are hopeful they will not come back with their nets empty despite a continued shortage of workers that plagues the industry.

For the 13th consecutive year, Reverend Mark Watters led the traditional Blessing of the Fleet July 10, at the Port of Brownsville’s fishing harbor. During his sermon, Rev. Watters asked the dozens of people gathered to pray for a bountiful harvest this season and for the well-being of all shrimpers while they are out at sea. The shrimping season began July 16.

The industry continues to battle with a shortage of workers due to the lack of H-2B worker visas issued by the federal government. Andrea Hance, executive director for the Texas Shrimp Association, said for this year there were more than 200,000 visa applicants, but only 66,000 visas were made available for distributi

Duro Bag: A Story of Success

BROWNSVILLE, Texas — The secret is out of the bag for Duro.

The company, a tenant of the Port of Brownsville since 1967, is a premier leader in the paper bag industry with approximately 2.5 billion paper bags manufactured annually for the grocery, retail, convenience and food markets.

“We are a small jewel at the Port of Brownsville,” said Frank Fernandez, plant manager at Duro Bag. “Our mission is to be the preeminent manufacturer of paper bags offering quality, innovative solutions and complete satisfaction to our customer base,” he added.

Duro Bag has a rich history of both manufacturing process creativity and product innovation with several current and pending patents in addition to more than 20 industry trademarks.

Since 2014, the company has been part of the Novolex family, a leading producer of plastic, paper and film products headquartered in Hartsville, Sou

New Captain of the Port for USCG Regional Sector

The U.S. Coast Guard Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi held a change-of-command ceremony May 5, where Capt. Edward Gaynor relieved Capt. Tony Hahn as commander of the sector.

Capt. Gaynor will now oversee South Texas waterways from the Port of Brownsville to Port Lavaca. His previous assignment was as the chief of incident management, 1st Coast Guard District.

Capt. Hahn was commander of the Corpus Christi sector since 2015. His next assignment is the chief of staff, Coast Guard Pacific Area.

On May 23, Capt. Gaynor paid his first visit to the Port of Brownsville as Captain of the Port and met with local authorities and port officials who briefed him on the port’s current maritime activity.

The change-of-command ceremony is a time-honored tradition and deeply rooted in Coast Guard and Naval history. The event signifies a total transfer of responsibility, authority and accou

TransMontaigne to Invest $60M in Expansion Projects

TransMontaigne Partners L.P. is investing approximately $60 million in terminaling and pipeline expansion projects at its Port of Brownsville facilities, the company announced May 9.

The investment was made possible after securing agreements with third parties for the construction of new facilities in Brownsville for the storage of gasoline, diesel and additives for further transportation by truck and the Diamondback Pipeline to the U.S./Mexico border.

The Diamondback pipeline consists of an 8-inch pipeline that previously transported propane approximately 16 miles from the TransMontaigne facilities in Brownsville to the U.S./Mexico border and a parallel 6-inch pipeline that has been idle and can be used to transport additional refined products.

The company expects the first tanks of the additional storage capacity under construction to be completed and ready for commercial serv

John Reed Named BND Commission Chairman

Board honors outgoing Commissioner Carlos Masso and welcomes newly-elected Commissioner Esteban Guerra

BROWNSVILLE, Texas—John Reed was unanimously elected to serve as chairman of the Brownsville Navigation District (BND) during the board’s meeting Wednesday, May 16, 2018. Local businessman Esteban Guerra also was sworn in as the BND’s newest commissioner, along with John Wood, who served as the previous chairman and was reelected to his second four-year term on the commission on May 5.

Reed is chairman for two years and continues to serve alongside BND Vice Chairman Sergio Tito Lopez, Secretary Ralph Cowen, who were also unanimously elected to the serve as part of the executive board.

Outgoing Commissioner Carlos Masso, who did not seek reelection, welcomed Commissioner Guerra by placing a Port of Brownsville ceremonial lapel pin onto his jacket. Masso served as

PORT OF BROWNSVILLE AND BIG RIVER STEEL LLC SIGN OPTION AGREEMENT

Deal advances $1.6 Billion Port steel mill; build-out brings 500 new jobs to Brownsville

(APRIL 24, 2018 – BROWNSVILLE, TX) The Brownsville Navigation District Board of Commissioners – the governing body for the Port of Brownsville – has signed an option agreement covering up to 800 acres of property with Big River Steel LLC enabling the steel-maker to continue its due diligence pursuant to the company’s interest in developing a LEED-certified steel manufacturing plant, storage and distribution facility. The plant would cost more than $1.6 billion to construct.

“This is good news for Brownsville and the result of hard work by many individuals and organizations over a long period of time. Our rail partner OmniTRAX played an important role in introducing this opportunity to the port,” stated John Wood, Chairman of the BND. �

Port of Brownsville Strikes Gold in AVA Digital Awards

BROWNSVILLE — The Port of Brownsville was recognized with two prestigious 2018 AVA Digital Awards for design and content of its website and electronic newsletter.

The AVA Digital Awards is an international competition recognizing excellence by creative professionals responsible for the planning, concept, direction, design and production of digital communications.

The port’s website, www.portofbrownsville.com, was honored with the 2018 AVA Gold Digital Award in the Web-Based Production category for government entities. The site, redesigned in 2017, is an improvement from the previous version and features a cleaner and more visually impactful design, providing visitors greater detail and information about the port. It also features enhanced content for marketing, media relations and public information. The site also includes informat

Texas LNG Receives Letter of Support from USCG for proposed project

BROWNSVILLE — The United States Coast Guard found the Brownsville Ship Channel to be suitable for marine traffic resulting from Texas LNG’s planned liquefaction terminal at the Port of Brownsville.

In a letter of recommendation issued Feb. 26 to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the Coast Guard concluded that the waterway is suitable to handle current and anticipated incremental traffic from the Texas LNG proposed facility.

The Houston-based company plans to construct an LNG export facility on a 625-acre site at the Port of Brownsville. The facility will enable the export of 4 million tonnes per annum of LNG to established and developing markets. The proposed terminal is being designed to accommodate LNG carriers with nominal LNG capacities up to 180,000 m3 and dimensions on the order of 977 feet long and 151 feet wide.

“After reviewing the information in th

State of the Port: Port of Brownsville achieves record year in FY 2017

BROWNSVILLE, Texas – A full house of regional stakeholders applauded Port of Brownsville officials during reports of record revenue and tonnage in 2017 at its annual State of the Port Address March 8.

“The state of the Port of Brownsville is strong and getting stronger,” said Brownsville Navigation District Vice Chairman John Reed. “As evidence, I offer two critical measures of success: total operating revenue and tonnage.”

The port’s total operating revenue reached nearly $24 million in unaudited total revenue, exceeding the previous high-water mark of $19.9 million set in 2015 by more than $4 million. On the annual tonnage side of the business, the volume of cargo handled at the port topped 10.3 million short tons, also a new record.

Reed cautioned the crowd of more than 230 the Port of Brownsville cannot afford to rest on its laurels and will work even harder to a

Impulsa México a Puerto de Brownsville

By SILVIA OLVERA/El Norte (Mexico)

Article published February 13, 2018

MONTERREY, México – Impulsados por México, especialmente por el sector acerero, el Puerto de Brownsville logró mover 10.3 millones de toneladas de mercancía durante el 2017, lo que representó un incrementó del 11 por ciento en relación al 2016.

Eduardo Campirano, director del puerto, describió que aunque se habla mucho en Estados Unidos de un déficit comercial con México, a Brownsville las cifras lo favorecen.

Refirió que el 90 por ciento de la operación está relacionada con México y un porcentaje similar les favorece en su balanza comercial.

De visita en Monterrey, a donde vino para reunirse con directivos del Consejo Mexicano de Comercio Exterior Noreste, Campirano dijo que sin importar el destino del TLC, la relación con las empresas mexicanas y con las regiomontanas

NextDecade Completes Rio Grande LNG FEED Update

BROWNSVILLE – NextDecade Corporation announced Feb. 1 the completion of the front-end engineering and design (FEED) update package with CB&I for the proposed Rio Grande LNG project at the Port of Brownsville.

The update incorporates identified cost reduction and value improvement initiatives and reconfirms market-leading engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) cost estimates for three trains of $490 per ton with a target of $450 per ton. For two trains the EPC cost estimate improves to $535 per ton with a target of $500 per ton, the company said.

“Utilizing Air Products’ AP-C3MR liquefaction technology and GE rotating equipment to achieve optimal configuration and economies of scale, Rio Grande LNG stands out thanks to its proven project design allowing for low risk, highly competitive economics across multiple build scenarios,” said NextDecade CEO Matt Schatzman.