BROWNSVILLE, Texas – Nov. 18, 2020 – Sergio Tito Lopez was unanimously elected to serve as chairman of the Brownsville Navigation District (BND) during the board’s regular meeting Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020.
Lopez also was sworn in as a commissioner, along with Ralph Cowen and John Reed, all reelected to the commission Nov. 3. Lopez serves as chairman alongside BND Vice Chairman Cowen and Secretary Esteban Guerra, who were also unanimously elected to serve as part of the executive board. Commissioners John Wood and Reed round out the board as assistant secretaries.
Lopez previously served as chairman from 2012-2014. The BND is the elected authority for the Port of Brownsville in Brownsville, Texas, setting policy and fiscal decisions for the port.
BROWNSVILLE, Texas — November 17, 2020 — For the eighth year in a row, Foreign Trade Zone No. 62 (FTZ) at the Port of Brownsville remains near the top in the nation for the value of exports, according to the U.S. Foreign-Trade Zones (FTZ) Board’s annual report to Congress released on November 13, 2020.
FTZ No. 62 ranks second in the country with more than $4.3 billion in exported goods in 2019, an increase from the $3.8 billion reported in 2018. Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, the port’s FTZ has consistently ranked in the top three for exports out of 193 FTZs nationwide since 2012. Additionally, FTZ No. 62 ranks number 18 in the nation for the value of imports totaling $4.6 billion, up from $3.69 billion in goods reported in 2018.
“These are the highest numbers we’ve seen in the zone’s history, which highlight the importance of the Port
A major steel mill expansion in Nuevo Leon, Mexico, is expected to have a big impact on the Port of Brownsville as a steel importer/exporter and boost job creation locally, according to port officials.
Port Director and CEO Eduardo Campirano said the multi-billion-dollar expansion of Monterrey’s Ternium Pesqueria mill, owned by Ternium S.A., the port’s largest steel customer and the biggest steel producer in Latin America, means more steel production at the mill.
More production requires more feedstock, which means more steel slab moving through the port — most of it from a Brazilian mill also owned by Ternium, he said. The Pesqueria mill largely supplies Mexico’s automobile manufacturing sect
Hamilton USA & CIA USA LLC opened new offices at the Port of Brownsville, the only deepwater port on the US-Mexico border, to expand the company’s services to the region’s growing oil and gas industry.
Hamilton USA , a Transcoma Shipping Company, received its Steamship Agency Licenses at the Port of Brownsville in June and provides customs brokerage, freight forwarding and warehousing, engineering support, secured long-term and short-term covered and open storage, equipment preservation and other services for shippers. With the tax advantages that exist by conducting business within the Port of Brownsville’s Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) – one of the top three in the nation specializing in petroleum products, steel and metals – Hamilton USA’s Brownsville office is ideally situated to take advantage of “twin plant” cross-border operations. The company offers expertise an
Brownsville Navigation District General Election November 3rd, 2020
Early Voting results, mail-in ballots, provisional ballots, plus 59 of 59 precincts reported.
Commissioner, Place 1
Ralph Cowen 46,381
Commissioner, Place 3
Julio Graña 26,363
John Reed 26,568
Commissioner, Place 5
Sergio Tito Lopez 38,898
Bill Berg 13,269
Unofficial results were canvassed during the Brownsville Navigation District’s regular board meeting held Nov. 17, 2020. For more information visit the Cameron County Elections and Voter Registration Department website Read More
Port of Brownsville Chief of Police Carlos Garcia has been appointed by Governor Greg Abbott to serve on the Task Force on Disaster Issues Affecting Persons who are Elderly and Persons with Disabilities.
Garcia will act as chair of the task force that will study methods to more effectively accommodate persons who are elderly and persons with disabilities before, during, and after a disaster or emergency evacuation. His term is set to expire on February 1 , 2023.
The Port of Brownsville Police and Security Department, led by Garcia, is comprised of 13 sworn police officers, eight security guards, and one administrative assistant. Prior to joining the port, Garcia served as Chief of Police for the City of Brownsville from 2001 until 2011. He is a member of the Texas Police Chiefs Association and the Texas Police Association. He received a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from
Expansion to Grow Agriculture Opportunities and Support Farming Families Throughout the Region
BROWNSVILLE, Texas – Wednesday, October 14, 2020 – The Port of Brownsville is reclaiming its status as a major exporter of agricultural products after receiving a $14.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to improve efficiency and safety of its grain storage and loading facilities.
The grant, deriving from the DOT Maritime Administration (MARAD) Port Infrastructure Development Program, supports the development, expansion and upgrade of the port’s three-million-bushel grain elevator operated by WestPlains, LLC.
The project consists of fixed landside, rail, and road improvements, as well as related planning and other development activities. Once completed, the improvements will create a new cost-efficient option for all grain p
The month of August marked an impressive milestone in the Brownsville & Rio Grande International Railway’s (BRG) 34-year history, with a record 5,045 loaded railcars handled at the Port of Brownsville.
The short-line railroad, managed and operated by OmniTRAX, has experienced a record-breaking number of car volumes for 2020 and according to Norma Torres, BRG president & COO, if the trend continues, BRG will see a 15% increase from the 41,207 loaded cars moved in 2019.
Like other companies, BRG has faced unprecedented challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the company has persevered as carload volumes continue to increase thanks to an uptick in activity by port tenants.
“The growth at the Port of Brownsville has directly impacted our carloads which continue
Keppel AmFELS announced in September its contract to build the largest high-specification Trailing Suction Hopper Dredge (TSHD) in the U.S. for Manson Construction Co.
This will be the first dredge built at Keppel AmFELS’ yard at the Port of Brownsville, adding to the growing number of shipbuilding projects and job opportunities in the South Texas region.
“We are pleased to be selected by Manson Construction Co. to build the largest U.S hopper dredge. It is a testament to the capabilities of our shipyard to build a wide variety of vessels for the Jones Act market,” said Mohamed Sahlan Bin Salleh, president of Keppel AmFELS. “This project will be supported by our highly-skilled local workforce and suppliers across the U.S. This is our first newbuild project with Manson and we look forward to supporting them as they grow their fleet of vessels.”
Brownsville, Texas – September 22, 2020 – The Brownsville Navigation District Board of Commissioners approved lowering the overall tax rate for property owners living within the district with an effective date of October 1, 2020.
The measure, approved unanimously at a regular board meeting held September 9, sets the 2020 property tax rate for the BND at $.029778 per $100 valuation, a 17 percent decrease from the previous year’s adopted tax rate which was set at $.035920. The 2020 property tax rate is comprised of a debt rate of $.004864 per $100 valuation and a maintenance and operations rate of $.024914 per $100 valuation.
“The Brownsville Navigation District commissioners and port staff are focused on advocating for the best interest of the district’s taxpayers,” said John Reed, BND chairman. “This decision reinforces our commitment to the residents
By John Reed, Chairman of the Brownsville Navigation District
The Port of Brownsville is proud to support the U.S. trucking industry by celebrating National Truck Driver Appreciation Week (Sept. 13-19). While we always owe our nation’s truckers a debt of gratitude, it feels especially poignant right now as they continue to bravely and relentlessly carry out their responsibilities to keep our world and our economies moving forward amid a global pandemic.
At the port, everything we do revolves around helping businesses provide seamless logistics and transportation of products and supplies on both sides of the border. Cargo moving to and from the port gets there by water, rail or road. It’s a relationship dependent upon well-coordinated cooperation between each mode of transportation, with truck drivers playing a vital role in our success.
WestPlains LLC loaded 34,000 metric tons of sorghum for export to China in August.
WestPlains Exports Rio Grande Valley Sorghum
For the first time in 13 years, the Port of Brownsville resumed the export of grains overseas via vessel.
WestPlains LLC, the operator of the port’s grain elevator, loaded 34,000 metric tons of sorghum onto the M/V Tian Fu in late-August. The sorghum was harvested from throughout the Rio Grande Valley.
This is the first of four vessels with sorghum that WestPlains will ship to China this ye
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A port community with all these exceptional benefits and active projects requires skilled and abundant labor. Local universities, colleges, technical schools, school districts and workforce development leaders are partnering with the port to meet growing demands. Fortunately, Brownsville is home to one of the nation’s most youthful populations, where the average age is 29. Educated, technically savvy, adaptable and motivated to succeed, these young people understand the meaning of hard work.
Many of those work for the port’s three skilled stevedoring operations, who collaborated on the movement of 11.3 million short tons of cargo last year: Dix Shipping Company, Schaefer Stevedoring and Gulf Stream Marine are the backbone and muscle of the port that works. Each has distinguished themselves with records of safety and efficiency, serving the focused needs of their clients, resulting
Community-wide survey kicks off campaign to help identify connectivity needs
August 26, 2020 (Brownsville, TX) –The City of Brownsville, in partnership with seven strategic local stakeholders including the Port of Brownsville, Brownsville Public Utilities Board, Texas Southmost College, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Greater Brownsville Incentives Cooperation, Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation and the Brownsville Independent School District announces a new campaign to help bring faster internet and better internet access to online Brownsville citizens.
