Commerce Flows Through Red River Ports
Published May 18, 2009
The recent arrival of Pratt Industries at the Port of Shreveport-Bossier should be as good for the economy as it is for the environment.
Running at full capacity, the company’s $150 million paper-recycling mill will consume 280,000 tons a year of mixed waste and 150,000 tons of corrugated cardboard, “trash” that would otherwise go to landfills.
At the same time, the arrival of the world’s largest privately held paper-and-packaging company will create about 125 full-time jobs, with an expected payroll exceeding $6 million. Figuring jobs indirectly created in the community, nearly 600 new jobs will result.
“The economic impact Pratt Industries has and will continue to have is remarkable,” James Pannell, port president, said at a 2009 Red River Waterway Commission event.
Pratt is a welcome addition to a port that began less than two decades ago with four pressure vessels and now houses nearly 20 businesses.
It might seem odd that a town founded at the juncture of the Red River and the Texas Trail – with “port” in its name, no less – would not have a working port. But the river fell into disuse in 1914 with the rising popularity of rail and became unnavigable for most of the 20th century.
That changed with the 1994 opening of the J. Bennett Johnston Waterway, aided by dredging by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which also installed five lock-and-dam systems.
Since then, the Port of Shreveport-Bossier has established itself as the largest of three public ports in Northwest Louisiana on the Red River Waterway.
The commission also operates ports in Red River Parish and Natchitoches.
The 307-acre Natchitoches port includes a 320-foot general cargo dock and 62,000-square-foot transit shed, as well as a rail spur. The 50-acre Red River Parish facility includes a general cargo dock, storage area and material handler.
The 2,000-acre Shreveport-Bossier facility handles 800,000 tons of imports and exports a year by rail and barge. The most common cargo is petroleum products, steel coils and ceramic proppants, pellets used in “fracturing” of new natural gas and oil wells.
The port posted an 18 percent increase in tonnage in 2008, growth helped by a convenient location that feeds into rail, road and airfreight options.
According to port officials, United Parcel Service estimates that next-day motor freight service from the port can reach almost 30 million people – making it a top-five market for next-day distribution. The port is also taking on a new rail yard and a rail expansion, a $7 million investment to accommodate multiple-unit trains. At the port’s slack water harbor, a new dock and crane are in the works.
“There can be no doubt,” Pannell says. “The Port of Shreveport-Bossier is a strong engine for economic development in Northwest Louisiana.”
Story by Sam Scott
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