Port of Kalama Comprehensive Plan
June 1, 2015
Page 25
Chapter Three
-
Demand Assessment
The following chapter evaluates the demand for a variety of facilities under consideration,
including:
Marine Terminals
Industrial Development
Commercial, Retail and related uses
Recreational and Public Access
Marine Terminals
The Port of Kalama currently has a number of marine terminals, including two grain
elevators,
a general cargo dock, barge dock, and liquid bulk facility. The grain elevators include
the TEMCO elevator, which is leased from the Port, and Kalama Export Company LLC, which
was originally owned by the Peavey Grain Company and sits on land purchased from the Port.
The North Port Marine Terminal is a general cargo facility located north of the Kalama River.
This facility currently is used for importing steel coil and other products for use in the adjacent
Steelscape finishing mill, which is located on Port property.
Two other terminals are located at the Port of Kalama. One of these is a barge berth owned
by the Port and used by RSG Forest Products / Gram Lumber to ship lumber on ocean-going
barges. Immediately downstream from the RSG facility is a deep-draft wharf owned by
Emerald Kalama Chemical LLC, which is used to receive toluene for the adjacent chemical
plant.
The Port of Kalama has excellent connections to the water, rail, and road transportation
systems. The marine facilities are located on the Columbia River Navigation Channel,
approximately 72 miles from the Pacific Ocean. Rail service is provided by both the Union
Pacific Railroad (UP) and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF). The BNSF
mainline, over which UP operates via trackage rights, sits adjacent to the Port’s marine facilities.
Interstate 5 also runs adjacent to the Port’s facilities, with three sets of on- and off-ramps in each
direction offering easy access to the Port. This access to the transportation system is accurately
reflected in the Port's slogan "where highway, rail, and water meet."
Marine Cargo Trends
The deep draft ports in the Lower Columbia River have seen sustained growth in cargo
volumes over the past five decades. From 1962 through 2012 (the last year for which data on
domestic movements is available), waterborne cargo volumes on domestic and international
routes grew at a compound annual growth rate of 2.7 percent.
International trade grew the most rapidly, with imports and exports averaging 4.2 percent
and 3.7 percent annual growth, respectively. Imports consist primarily of consumer products
(containerized products), automobiles, and dry bulks for agriculture, construction and other
regional industries. Exports include agricultural products and forest products that are
produced in the Pacific Northwest, as well as exports from inland U.S. and Canadian producers
Port of Kalama Comprehensive Plan
June 1, 2015
Page 26
(including grain, oil seeds, soda ash, potash and bentonite clay among other commodities). (See
Figure 12)
Coastwise trade primarily consists of receipts of petroleum products from domestic refiners
in Washington State and California, and shipments of forest products and manufactured goods
to Hawaii and other U.S. coastal locations. Between 1962 and 2007 coastwise trade remained
relatively stable, but after 2008 the volume of coastwise trade declined somewhat.
Figure 12 - Lower Columbia River Marine Cargo Trends (1,000 metric tons)
Source: US Army Corps of Engineers Waterborne Commerce Statistics
Opportunities for growth exist for a variety of marine terminal types on the Lower
Columbia River, including:
Grain Terminals
Dry Bulk Terminals
Neo-Bulk and Breakbulk Terminals
Liquid Bulk Terminals
Container Terminals
The outlook for each of these types of facilities is examined in the following section.
Grain Terminals
Overview
Grain terminals handle a variety of grains, oilseeds, and related products. These include
wheat, corn, barley, soybeans, grain sorghum and some animal feeds such as beet pulp pellets.
Wheat is primarily used for human consumption, as opposed to the coarse grains (corn,
barley, sorghum), which are primarily used as animal feed. Demand for human food is less
affected by changes in personal income than demand for animal feed, but currency exchange
rates do have a strong impact on wheat sales. Competition for wheat exports is intense,
particularly with Canada and Australia, among other countries.
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
40,000
45,000
1962
1964
1966
1968
1970
1972
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
Metric To
ns
(1,000
’s)
Coastwise Shipments
Coastwise Receipts
Foreign Imports
Foreign Exports