Facebook Twitter Twitter    Archive | www.aapa-ports.org April 22, 2013
   

Portland (Oregon) Marine Terminal Upgraded for Soda Ash Exports

Print Print this Article | Send to Colleague

Kinder Morgan’s soda ash export facility at the Port of Portland’s Terminal 4 is being upgraded with the installation of a new ship loader, removal of an outmoded structure and berth dredging. The work is slated for completion in September.

Soda ash, or trona, is used in the manufacture of glass and detergents. Mined in Green River, Wyo., it is exported through Portland to countries around the world. 

Unit trains more than 100 cars long deliver the soda ash to the Terminal 4, where it is stored in a covered structure pending loading on to bulk carriers via a conveyor system. That ship loader portion of the conveyor system is being replaced by a high capacity loader.

Kinder Morgan has managed soda ash export operations at Terminal 4 since 1998 – and under a different name when the mineral bulk facility was originally constructed in 1987. The product is exported by the American Natural Soda Ash Corporation, or ANSAC, which operates as the sales, marketing and logistics arm for three natural soda ash producers.

When negotiating the 10-year lease extension (with two five-year options) that took effect January 1, 2013, Kinder Morgan committed to purchase and install the new ship loader at Terminal 4. The estimated cost is $9.5 million.

In February, the Portland port commissioners also voted to award a $715,000 contract for the removal of an antiquated bulk unloader at Terminal 4 and a pair of outmoded cranes at Terminal 6. Removal of the massive equipment eliminates a liability and increases the usable footprint for the operation.

In September, maintenance dredging is scheduled at the ship berths. Since 2008, about 5,000 cubic yards of new sediments have accumulated in the berth, threatening to compromise its 40-foot operating depth. The dredging is being performed under contract by the port per its lease agreement with Kinder Morgan.
 

Share Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn