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Corpus Christi Port Commissioners Approve Long-term Agreements with International Resins Producer

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Corpus Christi Port Commissioners approved a series of agreements associated with the construction of M&G Resins, USA, LLC, project at a special meeting on June 20. 

M&G Group is a family-owned chemical engineering and manufacturing group headquartered in Tortona, Italy. The group’s wholly-owned holding company, M&G International, is a leading producer of PET resin for packaging applications in the Americas, with production capacity in 2012 of approximately 1.6 million tons per annum.

During the past year, the port and the Corpus Christi Regional Economic Development Corporation staff assisted the M&G Group in final site selection and planning for the company’s proposed resins plant. The Corpus Christi plant will produce PET (polyethylene perephthalate) and PTA (purified terephthalic acid). It will ship an estimated 14,000 rail cars loaded with PET and PTA each year.

The plant will be sited on property in the Port of Corpus Christi’s Inner Harbor with accessibility to the Union Pacific, Burlington Northern Santa Fe, and Kansas City Southern railroads.

"The port is pleased with the signing of these agreements and the addition of another world-class company to our harbor," said Port Commission Chairman Mike Carrell. "M&G site selection was feasible due to port’s infrastructure strategic plan that included the construction of the Joe Fulton Corridor that opened acreages of land for industrial development on the north side of the Inner Harbor." 

To lure M&G to Corpus Christi, the port offered an $18 million incentive package for the construction of a public oil barge dock, drainage improvements, access road, relocation of a power line, and the purchase of land that the port would own and lease to M&G. The investment will be repaid through various rentals and port fees over a period of 14 years using a guaranteed volume agreement. The rentals and port fees are expected to continue after the 14 year period and provide the port with a steady revenue stream that can be used for other projects.

M&G’s plant will provide the port with an opportunity to expand its Nueces River Rail Yard (NRRY) through a second phase project. This follows a $10 million TIGER grant and funding commitments from the three Class I railroads to assist in financing Phase I of the NRRY.

The port will purchase land from M&G to complete construction of eight 8,000-foot unit train sidings in Phase II of the NRRY. This is funded by a $22.0 million grant received from the Texas Department of Transportation. The port’s indirect investment for the local grant match and real estate is estimated to cost $8.77 million. 

 

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