Steel Mills
BRS Still Eyeing Port of Brownsville
Written by Sandy Williams
March 24, 2019
Big River Steel still considers Brownsville, Texas, an attractive site for a new EAF mill and the Port of Brownsville is ready whenever BRS greenlights the project.
In his State of the Port address this week, Brownsville Navigation Chairman John Reed noted that Big River Steel extended its land lease option for another year.
A spokesperson for BRS confirmed the company is still interested: “As a growth-oriented company, Big River Steel continues to pursue various strategic initiatives. With regard to the potential project at the Port of Brownsville, our views have not changed. The port remains an attractive site.”
Big River is not the only project that is stirring up excitement in the region. The SpaceX facility near Brownsville is ready for short test flights of its Starship using the company’s Raptor engine. The Port expects to play an important role for SpaceX, similar to Port Canaveral in Florida, and is busy building roads that will provide efficient connection to the launching facility.
Ship builder Keppel AMFELS is introducing deep-draft ship building to the Port of Brownsville and Texas. Keppel is currently building two Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) fueled containerships for the Pasha Hawaii fleet. The 774-foot vessels will carry 2,525 TEUs and will be delivered in 2020.
Port officials are optimistic that three liquefied natural gas export operations will receive permits to start construction at the port, bringing an estimated 7,400 construction jobs to the region for the next seven to 10 years. If the mills are completed to design capacity, they will create 500 permanent jobs that will boost direct job creation at the port.
Other projects coming the port’s way include its own $28 million oil dock and re-opening a dock for grain exports.
A major project by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to deepen the channel is expected to receive its permits by year end. The project, initiated in 2007, will make Brownsville one of the deepest ports on the Gulf of Mexico.
The Port of Brownsville has set tonnage and total operating revenue records for three out of the last four years. In 2018, the port moved 11.3 million short tons of cargo and hit a new operating revenue record of $24,225,454.
“I should point out that the previous record of $23.6 million included a one-time payment from Valley Crossing Pipeline of one-million dollars,” said Reed. “So, considering the impact of that extraordinary income anomaly of one-million dollars, the new record of $24.2 million is that much more impressive.”
The port’s foreign trade zone set a record for exported cargo, valued at $3.6 billion, ranking the port second nationally out of 293 FZs in the nation for the third year in a row.
Said Reed, “Today, we are on the verge of transformational change for the port, the community and the region. Our time is here.”
Sandy Williams
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