December 23, 2016 - TRA Newswire / plasticsnews.com

Plastic resin is a booming business along the Texas Gulf Coast and in the DFW metroplex and both BNSF and Union Pacific are working with shippers to expand service.

You can add Plantgistix to the growing list of firms adding resin-related facilities on the U.S. Gulf Coast. The Houston-based company provides in-plant and off-plant services — including maintenance and warehousing — to plastic resin makers. Its expansion plans include a 330,000-square-foot resin packaging plant that will mean almost 1 million square feet of space. The rail-served plant currently is under construction in Baytown, Texas, and is scheduled to open in April. Railcar storage and switching services for the firm’s customers at the AmeriPort Industrial Park will be handled through a partnership with Rail Logix, a privately owned rail yard operator

The new site will have storage and switching capacity for 2,400 railcars, along with barge service to the Barbours Cut and Bayport terminals. The site contains room for future Plantgistix expansions in packaging, warehousing and rail car storage.

Logistics firms are investing in the Gulf Coast area because of massive amounts of new PE capacity that’s being installed there. These expansions are being driven by newfound supplies of natural gas throughout the region, which is supplying PE producers with abundant and affordable feedstocks.

Belgium-based Katoen Natie is working with railroad leader Union Pacific Corp. on a new Dallas-to-dock shipping service, along with plans to build a major resin shipping center in Dallas which is scheduled for completion in the third quarter of 2017.

Rail giant BNSF Railway Co. and Texas-based firms Hillwood Development Co. LLC and Packwell Inc. are working on a resin shipping center in Fort Worth. That project is expected to come online during the fourth quarter of 2017.