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Grain terminal, port important step for exportsBy Jennifer Bremer
The journey for grain and grain products to travel to the Los Angeles Harbor Grain Terminal from the Midwest via railroad is 12 days. This journey then continues on to be loaded into containers and head to export markets around the world. Dwight Robinson, vice president of the terminal, said they handle mostly wheat, barley, corn, dry distillers grains, soybeans, soybean meal, and hay cubes. These products are transloaded from the rail cars into ocean containers. "Once in ocean containers, the commodity can be shipped via ocean vessel anywhere in the world," said Robinson. The grain terminal was started in 1958 by Richard B. Mortimer and Howard L. Wallace. Wallace is Robinson's father-in-law and is still actively involved in the operation, serving as president of the terminal. These men had experience in the rendering industry and had established an export facility for animal fats and vegetable oils in the Port of Los Angeles. "In the early 1960s, they converted part of the facility into an export grain elevator," said Robinson. "They called it the Los Angles Harbor Grain Terminal. Until the late 80s, they were loading ships with cargos of grain and animal feeds. Then, need for loading ships diminished and a new facility was needed where we could have more rail trackage for the transloading business." Today, they operate three facilities in the Port of Los Angeles and continue to meet the needs of American agribusiness and the country's expanding trade with Pacific Rim countries. Since they are three to five miles from every container facility, a lot of transportation is involved in getting the products from the rail cars to the ships. Nearly all the transportation to the shipyards is done at night to avoid the daytime traffic. While the most common products they ship out are corn and soybean products, Robinson said other products have begun to become increasingly popular. More than 75,000 tons of beet pulp pellets will be shipped to Korea and Japan, and the Middle East is receiving nearly 1,000 containers per week of baled hay. He thinks more hay may begin to be exported as customers begin using pelleted hay products. The terminal handles both GMO and non-GMO grains but handles them separately. The non-GMO products are loaded onto containers via a belted system. The containers holding the non-GMO products are fully lined with a plastic-type bag in order to ensure integrity to the customers. "Each of the containers is thoroughly cleaned in between uses, but we like to ensure the quality of the non-GMO products by using the liners," said Robinson. The Port of LA There is a continual need for exporting agriculture products in the Los Angeles area because the ports are so big, and so many containers need to be filled with items to return to countries around the world. The Port of Los Angeles is the No. 1 container port in America, according to Jim MacLellan, director of trade services for the Port. The Port encompasses 7,500 acres, 43 miles of waterfront, and features 27 cargo terminals, including dry and liquid bulk, container, breakbulk, automobile, and omni facilities. Combined, these terminals handle almost 190 million metric revenue tons of cargo annually. "Each big ship, on average, holds 6,500 containers. It takes three crane gangs three days to unload a big cargo ship," said MacLellan. Exports out of the Port of LA have increased since Jan. 1. He said right now they meet the demand but have to do so at a steady pace. In December 2009, there was a 40-percent increase in exports over December 2008. "Imports are only up marginally, but exports continue to push us," he said. "Export increases are seen mostly in scrap paper, scrap metal and animal feed. Just recently, agriculture products in general have entered into the top five exports." Increases in grain and cotton exports are being seen and are supporting the agriculture product category. MacLellan said most of the imports continue to be general department store merchandise--products that people wear, use and clean with, as well as electronics and automobiles. Environmental issues continue to be important to the port officials. A recipient of numerous environmental awards, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 2007 Clean Air Excellence Award, the Port of Los Angeles is committed to innovating cleaner, greener ways of doing business. Ships use low-sulfur fuel, and that has helped decrease emissions by 50 percent in the past 10 years. Electricity is used more often for reefer units, and the large ships are even "plugged in" while docked in order to burn fewer emissions. The Port of LA is making continual improvements to help the transportation of agriculture and other products to and from the United States to be done in an environmentally friendly way for future generations. Jennifer Bremer can be reached by phone at 515-833-2120, or by e-mail at jbremer@hpj.com.
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