October 25, 2017 - TRA Newswire -

Katoen Natie and Union Pacific gathered with supporters today to formally break ground on a new state-of-the-art plastic packaging facility. Construction for the site is now underway at the Prime Pointe Industrial Park, which is a 3,000-acre industrial park located in South Dallas County and is adjacent to Union Pacific's Dallas Intermodal Terminal (DIT).

Representatives of the petrochemical industry, along with local and city officials, were on hand to hear details of the project. Upon start-up, the Katoen Natie facility will have at least 250,000 square feet of warehouse space that may expand to up to 2.5MM square feet of space as warranted by market conditions. The space will have direct railroad access, served by Union Pacific. Scheduled for completion in the third quarter 2018, this facility will become Katoen Natie's 20th NAFTA location. Producers will ship bulk railcars of plastic resin pellets to the warehouse where the pellets will be packaged and loaded into intermodal containers. After a short trip to the adjacent intermodal terminal, Union Pacific's Dallas to Dock service will transport the containers to ocean ports via premium intermodal service.

"We are committed to providing service solutions to the petrochemical industry," said Kenny Rocker, Union Pacific Vice President & General Manager - Industrial. "Katoen Natie‘s Dallas location aligns with container availability, a core need of our customer base. From Dallas, Union Pacific's premium intermodal services deliver to the West Coast where producers are able to export to global destinations".

"The Dallas facility will assist our customers in diversifying their export channels to global markets," said Frank Vingerhoets, President of Katoen Natie.

 

October 25, 2017 - AmericanShipper.com -

Port Houston relayed that the port commission has authorized an agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation for the construction and operation of a rail spur across Texas State Highway 146 and Red Bluff Road, to facilitate in a phased approach future intermodal service to the Bayport Container Terminal. An Industry Track Agreement was also approved with Union Pacific Railroad for track and switch modifications at the Bayport Terminal. Construction of the spur and crossing and the track agreement support the development of Phase One of the Bayport Master Rail Plan, as well as rail service to the 56-acres being developed at Bayport South, the port commission noted.

Additionally, three three super post-panamax wharf cranes were delivered to the port on Monday, bringing the total number of same-size cranes to seven. These new cranes are part of a $700 million modernization program underway at the Barbours Cut terminal to further its increase cargo handling efficiency and capacity, the port said.

Read more: https://www.americanshipper.com/main/news/port-houston-container-volumes-jump-11-in-2017-69475.aspx?source=Little4