Long Beach: Iron Ore Exports Resume After 40 Years

Officials gathered dockside April 30 to celebrate the exporting of iron ore from the Port of Long Beach - a new line of business developed by SA Recycling, a longtime exporter of scrap metal.

SA Recycling is working with CML Metals Corp. to send iron ore from mines in Utah, California, Arizona and Nevada to meet the growing demand of Asian steel makers for raw materials. The iron ore exports, which started up this spring, are the first in 40 years from Long Beach.

"I’m really excited about it,” said George Adams, president and CEO of SA Recycling."The price of iron ore is starting to rise to the point where you can afford to mine it and ship it to China, South Korea, Malaysia and other Asian markets.”

SA Recycling has operated a break bulk terminal at Long Beach’s Pier T for more than 15 years. The company also operates a scrap metal export facility in the Port of Los Angeles.

The ore is transported by rail, mostly from Utah, to the port, where it is delivered by conveyor to a storage yard and then by truck to the dock where it is dumped into large buckets and loaded on ships.

After a year of planning with the port, SA Recycling loaded and sent its first 50,000-ton shipment of the raw material in late March and, according to the port, could export more than 1 million tons this year.

American Association of Port Authorities
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