Port of Georgetown Nets New 20-Year Contract
July 31, 2009The Port of Georgetown will soon welcome the first ship call as part of a new, 20-year contract that will bring business to the port while supporting local manufacturing and maritime jobs.
Carolina-Pacific, a South Carolina-based producer of wood briquettes used as a renewable energy source, will begin manufacturing and exporting product from the Port of Georgetown in October. The first vessel is expected to handle 6,000 metric tons of product onto a ship for export to Europe.
Carolina-Pacific plans to move approximately 66,000 metric tons in its first year of operation at the port. Carolina-Pacific has signed a 20-year contract with the South Carolina State Ports Authority (SCSPA) with two, 5-year renewal options.
In addition to the business across the pier, Carolina-Pacific will initially occupy more than 100,000 square feet of warehouse space at the port to support manufacturing and exporting the wood briquettes, which are used in power generation as an eco-friendly substitute or supplement to coal.
Wood pellets and briquettes are quickly becoming a high-demand commodity overseas due to requirements that member countries of the European Union generate 20% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020.
“We are excited to welcome Carolina-Pacific and this new business to the Port of Georgetown,” said L. David Schronce, the SCSPA’s director of the Port of Georgetown and Veterans Terminal. “Each ship entering the port supports tugs, pilots, longshoreman and others within the local maritime community, which means more dollars in the local economy.”
“We appreciate and commend the Ports Authority’s flexibility and ingenuity in helping us launch this business,” said John B. Kern, chairman and CEO of Carolina-Pacific. “South Carolina is now staged to enter the renewable energy industry on a global scale.”
Kern noted that the operation has a direct connection to the state’s forestry and agricultural industries by utilizing South Carolina-sourced Southern Yellow Pine in the on-site production of the briquettes and in the transport of switchgrass grown in the I-95 corridor.
“I welcome today’s announcement and applaud Carolina-Pacific’s faith in the positive business climate of coastal South Carolina,” said Congressman Henry E. Brown. “This is also an important step forward for the Port of Georgetown, a significant economic development resource that I have long supported in Congress. The key to addressing the Port’s maintenance needs is to increase the tonnage coming across the dock, and the aggressive work by the community and the Ports Authority should be commended,” said Congressman Brown.
Attention is being focused on maintenance dredging for Georgetown’s 27-foot authorized channel. Thanks to the action of Congressman Brown, the Energy & Water Appropriations bill approved by the U.S. House earlier this month included another $1 million toward needed maintenance dredging in Georgetown. With Sen. Lindsey Graham’s support, the Senate Appropriations committee adopted the same provision in its version of the bill.
