STATEWIDE PORTS NEEDS AND MARKETING ASSESSMENT. Port of Amory

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1 STATEWIDE PORTS NEEDS AND MARKETING ASSESSMENT Port of Amory OCTOBER, 2014

2 PORT OF AMORY CONTENTS 3. Port of Amory Location Port Land and Facilities Port Services Typical Cargoes Landside Connectivity Roadway Access Railroad Access Marketing Assessment Past Funding Through MDOT MTIP SWOT Analysis Needs Identified by the Port Action Items for Near-Term Implementation Port Contact Information 3-16 EXHIBITS 3-1. Location of the Port of Amory on the Inland Waterways System Location of the Port of Amory in Context of the State Aerial of the Amory North Port Park and South Port Park in a Local Context Amory North Port Park Land and Facilities Amory South Port Park Location of the Port of Amory on the Mississippi Highway System Local Connectivity at the Port of Amory Location of the Port of Amory within the Mississippi Railroad System Rail Network at the Amory Port 3-12 Neel-Schaffer, Inc. and W. R. Coles and Associates 3-i

3 3. PORT OF AMORY The Port of Amory, authorized in 1985, is owned by the City of Amory and is located in the Amory Waterway Industrial Park. The port has more than one mile of frontage along the eastern side of the main channel of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. Its location along a canal part of the waterway provides low velocity water conditions and little fluctuation in river stages, ideal for navigation. The public terminal is operated by Kinder Morgan and serves nearby industries, such as Severstal and Tronox, with inbound barge shipments of raw materials and outbound rail and truck shipments of production-ready material on an as-needed basis as determined by the customer. The port has direct access to Burlington Northern s mainline route between Memphis and Birmingham. Enviva, a nearby wood pellet plant, exports finished product to European markets by loading at the Amory port and connecting to international water freight via the Port of Mobile, Alabama. Including private property not optioned to the City of Amory or Monroe County but available for sale, there are about 1,200 acres available for future development within the port area. Amory Port North Source: Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway 3.1. LOCATION The Port of Amory is located in Monroe County at River Mile on the left descending bank of the Tenn-Tom Waterway channel immediately south of Amory Lock. Exhibit 3-1 shows the location of the Amory port in context of the inland waterways system. Exhibit 3-2 shows the port in context with the state s other ports. Exhibit 3-3 shows an aerial view of the port and its facilities in a local context. Neel-Schaffer, Inc. and W. R. Coles and Associates 3-1

4 Exhibit 3-1. Location of the Port of Amory on the Inland Waterways System Neel-Schaffer, Inc. and W. R. Coles and Associates 3-2

5 Exhibit 3-2. Location of the Port of Amory in Context of the State Neel-Schaffer, Inc. and W. R. Coles and Associates 3-3

6 Exhibit 3-3. Aerial of the Amory North Port Park and South Port Park in a Local Context Neel-Schaffer, Inc. and W. R. Coles and Associates 3-4

7 3.2. PORT LAND AND FACILITIES Amory North Port Park, shown in Exhibit 3-4, includes the public terminal, comprised of 22 acres, and the privately owned 34-acre site of Domtar s wood chip mill and barge terminal. There are also 23 acres of undeveloped land north of the public terminal and 165 acres south of Domtar that have barge access. In addition, there are 66 acres of city-owned property across the port access road, all of which can accommodate future growth in the North Port Park. A 14-acre privately owned site with barge access just south of the US-278 bridge on the left descending bank is also available. Amory South Port Park, shown in Exhibit 3-5, is located south of US Highway 278 and less than one mile from the public terminal. There are 100 acres owned by the City and an additional 232 acres of privately owned property optioned to the City for development. In addition, other private land not optioned but available for sale is nearby that could accommodate future growth in the South Port Park. Exhibit 3-4. Amory North Port Park Land and Facilities Neel-Schaffer, Inc. and W. R. Coles and Associates 3-5

8 Additional information on these facilities is shown below. 1 Available land 66-acre site available for development 2 Available land 165 acres available for development that port officials state is shovel ready 3 Domtar Chip Mill and Barge Terminal Company is largest producer of free sheet paper in US. Amory mill produces wood chips that are barged to company s plant in Kentucky. Owns the 34.4-acre site 4 Public Terminal and Facilities 22-acre facility operated by Kinder Morgan, one of the nation s largest terminal operators Over 800 feet of notched, bulk head barge berthing area 7 domes with a total of 65,000 metric tons of storage About 12 acres of unpaved open storage 30-ton capacity bridge crane with 60-foot span Dockside and dome storage facility served by rail 5 Available land 23 acres of city-owned land north of public dock available for development Neel-Schaffer, Inc. and W. R. Coles and Associates 3-6

9 Exhibit 3-5. Amory South Port Park 3.3. PORT SERVICES Barge loading/unloading General freight transfer including grain and lumber (truck/rail) Barge fleeting Storage Mooring assistance 3.4. TYPICAL CARGOES Wood chips Neel-Schaffer, Inc. and W. R. Coles and Associates 3-7

10 Wood pellets Rock salt Soybeans Ore Pet coke Calcined sand Steel Gravel Other raw materials for chemical industry 3.5. LANDSIDE CONNECTIVITY The Port of Amory is linked to local, regional and national markets by road and rail connections described below Roadway Access: Amory North Port Park is located one-half mile from US Highway 278 and is serviced by motor freight transportation on the eastern border via Waterway Drive, an asphalt surface road designed to support heavy truck industrial traffic. Waterway Drive connects to US-278 on the south end and to US Highway 6 on the north end. There is also quick access to MS Highway 25. The port is 8 miles from US-45, a four-laned highway. Amory South Port Park is less than one-half mile from US-278. The nearest interstate is east-west I-22/78, which is 22 miles from the port via Highway 6 or US- 278 to US-45 which connects to I-22 at Tupelo. The location of the port within the overall Mississippi highway system is shown on Exhibit 3-2. A closer look at regional highway connectivity is shown in Exhibit 3-6, and roadway connectivity in the immediate vicinity of the port is shown in Exhibit Railroad Access: The port has direct access to Burlington Northern Railroad s main line between Memphis and Birmingham via a City of Amory owned and maintained rail spur, which is able to serve all project sites located in both the Amory North and South Port Parks. Exhibit 3-8 shows the port s location on the Mississippi railroad system. Exhibit 3-9 shows the proximity of the port to BN rail. Exhibit 3-7 shows rail in the immediate vicinity of the port. Neel-Schaffer, Inc. and W. R. Coles and Associates 3-8

11 Exhibit 3-6. Location of the Port of Amory on the Mississippi Highway System Neel-Schaffer, Inc. and W. R. Coles and Associates 3-9

12 Exhibit 3-7. Local Connectivity at the Port of Amory Neel-Schaffer, Inc. and W. R. Coles and Associates 3-10

13 Exhibit 3-8. Location of the Port of Amory within the Mississippi Railroad System Neel-Schaffer, Inc. and W. R. Coles and Associates 3-11

14 Exhibit 3-9. Rail Network at the Amory Port 3.6. MARKETING ASSESSMENT The Port of Amory considers its geographic market area to be the Mississippi counties of Monroe, Itawamba, Pontotoc, Lee, Lowndes, Oktibbeha, Clay, Chickasaw, and Union. The port is centrally located between Tupelo, Columbus, Birmingham, and Memphis and able to serve industries in this market area. It is located in the center of a skilled labor market with over 300,000 people with a manufacturing background. Port officials stated that they believe in investing in the port today in order to experience positive and successful growth tomorrow that benefits the people of Amory and Monroe County. Neel-Schaffer, Inc. and W. R. Coles and Associates 3-12

15 3.7. PAST FUNDING THROUGH MDOT MTIP The port has received funding for infrastructure and equipment from the Mississippi Department of Transportation s Multimodal Transportation Improvement Program (MTIP). The state grants enable the port to reinvest in infrastructure and purchase new equipment. This allows the port s operations to remain efficient and competitive. The port has received MTIP grants as follows: 2005 Repair dock wall $200, Rail rehab & construction $340, Construction of rail spur $495, Rehabilitation of industrial spur track $208, Construct rail spur, extend drainage structures $200, Construct additional rail spur $300, LF of new rail spur extension $325, Upgrade/repair rail spur $200,000 The use of Multimodal Grant funds has been essential in rebuilding the port dock wall, repairing the crane, upgrading the original section of rail spur, and expanding that rail spur from the North Port property to the South Port property. Rail service is essential to the port and also in the development of additional sites for new industries. The Port of Amory offers an exceptional opportunity for industrial development and is dependent upon grants and other resources of outside capital to reach its potential. The port currently provides services that support 18 jobs at Kinder Morgan and approximately 500 jobs at local industries. The port used local trucking companies to haul over 7,500 loads of material in 2012 and a comparable amount in SWOT ANALYSIS A SWOT analysis is a structured planning method for evaluating the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of an organization, industry or business. It is a useful tool that specifies the objectives of a business and identifies the internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieving that objective. The terms of the SWOT are defined below, and exploration and identification of each serve as a beginning point in a process of long range planning. Strengths: characteristics of a business that give it an advantage over others Weaknesses: characteristics that place the business at a disadvantage relative to others Opportunities: elements that the business could exploit to its advantage Threats: elements in the environment that could cause trouble for the business Neel-Schaffer, Inc. and W. R. Coles and Associates 3-13

16 Based on experience and the limited hours spent with each port, the SWOT analysis results are respectfully presented below. Strengths Strategic location Available industrial sites, both inland and with river frontage Available land above 100-year flood plain and shovel-ready Port served by a main line of BN RR Frequent rail switching available Good highway connections Port facilities leased to Kinder Morgan, a premier port operator Weaknesses. Lack of an adequate barge fleeting area Port s access is limited to a city-traveled, two-lane street. Opportunities Four-laning US 278; Right-Of-Way already acquired Shovel-ready property available at Amory Port North More than 330 additional acres also immediately available in Amory South for future expansions Container-on-barge (with overhead bridge crane) for furniture industry Energy-related industries Auto-related industries less than one hour s drive to Toyota plant Threats Inadequate funding for waterway maintenance Competition from nearby ports Neel-Schaffer, Inc. and W. R. Coles and Associates 3-14

17 3.9. NEEDS IDENTIFIED BY THE PORT Projects identified by the staff at the Amory port for implementation in the next ten years are shown below. Opinions of cost were provided by the port and may need refinement. In some cases, more work is needed to determine a reasonable opinion of cost, and the opinion of cost for those items is shown as To-Be-Determined (TBD). Therefore, a simple sum of the items for which an opinion of cost is shown will be less than the actual amount needed. Improvements/ Investments Estimated Cost Time Frame 1-5 Years Priority A Expand the fleeting area $5 million Onsite road improvements for Amory Port $380,000 North 2-lane road with parking on one side, OR Onsite road improvements for Amory Port $580,000 North 3-lane road with parking on one side Create ready-to-build industrial sites on $2.5 million 332 acres in Amory Port South New acceleration lane onto US-278 $500,000 Priority B Expand the reach of the overhead bridge crane Estimated Cost Time Frame 6-10 Years $1.5 million ACTION ITEMS FOR NEAR-TERM IMPLEMENTATION: 1. Prepare written description of fleeting area Phase 1 and Phase 2, along with permit application. 2. Prepare written description of ongoing and proposed road improvements. 3. Quantify needs for South improvements. Neel-Schaffer, Inc. and W. R. Coles and Associates 3-15

18 3.11. PORT CONTACT INFORMATION Port Director: Brad J. Blalock, Mayor Address: PO Drawer 457, Amory MS Work Phone: Cell Phone: Fax: Website: Neel-Schaffer, Inc. and W. R. Coles and Associates 3-16