A&R Logistics, based in Louisville, KY, will open Savannah’s first export facility for plastic resins by the end of the year.
The project will establish a transportation and plastics packaging facility at the Port of Savannah’s Ocean Terminal to handle the anticipated significant increase in export plastic resins.
“Our collaboration with A&R is an incubation program to grow a business sector that offers major opportunities for Georgia’s ports,” said Georgia Ports Authority Executive Director Griff Lynch.
Resin pellets, a byproduct of oil and natural gas refining, are used in the manufacture of plastic products.
According to data analysts at Petrochemical Update, four refineries totaling more than 5 million tons per year of resin capacity will start operations this year along the U.S. Gulf Coast. Another five new refineries are expected to go into operation before the end of 2019. Together, the nine projects will bring 10.3 million metric tons of additional resin capacity into the U.S. market.
Every million metric tons of resins results in 40,000 forty-foot containers of cargo. The new production capacity is expected to grow the current yearly export volume from 200,000 containers per year to approximately 600,000.
“Approximately $50 billion is expected to be invested in the U.S. over the next 10 years by the plastics industry to expand production capacity,” said Dan Jaworski, senior vice president for sales and marketing at A&R. “We are very pleased to partner with Georgia Ports Authority, one of the largest ports in the country, to offer an immediate solution to the shipper community. This facility is expected to be up and running by the fourth quarter of 2017.”
GPA Chief Commercial Officer Cliff Pyron said the Port of Savannah is perfectly situated to take on the additional trade.
“With the most shipping services on the U.S. East Coast at 35 weekly calls, the Port of Savannah provides superior carrier capacity and greater scheduling flexibility,” Pyron said. “Also, because of Georgia’s balanced import and export trade, manufacturers find better availability of empty export containers in Savannah.”
The Savannah market also offers off-terminal sites for handling resin exports that are rail-served, close to Interstates 95 and 16, and within minutes of Garden City Terminal.
On 2,000 acres contributed by the Effingham County Industrial Development Authority, another company, OmniTRAX, is investing in roadway, rail spur, and switching yard infrastructure around which developers will build what is anticipated to be unmatched resin packaging and shipping capacity. The site offers access to two Class I railroads, CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern.
At Morgan Lakes Industrial Park in Pooler, properties are served by short-line railroad Genesee & Wyoming, which provides access to both Norfolk Southern and CSX. Another likely site for handling resins is at CenterPoint Intermodal Center, located just four miles from the main gate of the Port of Savannah on Highway 307, and within minutes of I-95 and I-16. CenterPoint is served by Norfolk Southern.
About A&R Logistics
Headquartered in Louisville, KY, A&R Logistics, Inc. is a leading provider of dry-bulk transportation, packaging, distribution and logistics solutions to numerous multinational companies within the chemical and plastic industries. A&R provides a comprehensive suite of services including over-the-road transportation, trans-loading, packaging, warehousing and end-to-end outsourced transportation management through a nationwide network of 28 facilities, a combination of company-owned equipment and owner operators and a non-asset based transportation management division. For more information on A&R Logistics, Inc. please visit www.ARDoingItRight.com.
