Port Tampa Bay leases property for sulfur imports

Bulk operator could also lighter vessels at nearby Port Manatee.    Port Tampa Bay on Monday signed a six-year lease with Gulf Coast Bulk Equipment to handle imports of prilled sulfur on a five-acre parcel of land at Port Redwing, a large greenfield industrial property owned by the port authority.
   Gulf Coast Bulk Equipment, based in Palmetto, Fla., provides non-union stevedoring services at Port Tampa Bay, Port Manatee and private terminals in Hillsborough County, and is licensed as a terminal operator. 
   Prilled sulfur is a solid form of sulfur formed like small beads which is melted down to a liquid for use in fertilizers.
   GCBE President Richard Tager said the company is investing $2.5 million for storage bins, conveyors, a concrete pad, storm water discharge, a truck scale and other property development, while the port authority is making improvements to the berth and entrance road.  
   The company, which employs up to 50 longshoremen at any given time, depending on shipping levels at customer sites, has lined up several undisclosed customers and is aiming for a July 1 start date, he said.
   Prilled sulfur volume is eventually expected to reach 500,000 to 750,000 tons, although business will likely be slower the first year, Tager said. 
   At Port Manatee, GCBE operates a warehouse and unloads about 350,000 tons of salt, potash, ammonium nitrate, limestone and other dry bulk commodities per year.
   Tager said negotiations are underway with the port authority and suppliers to bring smaller amounts of prilled sulfur through Port Manatee as well, primarily to offload product and make vessels lighter so they can reach the Redwing facility.
   Port Manatee has a 40-foot draft that can handle larger handy-size vessels, whereas Redwing in Port Tampa Bay has a 34-foot draft. Tager envisioned vessels offloading about 10,000 tons, or a quarter of the shipment, at Manatee before making their way further up Tampa Bay to its new facility. Redwing’s advantage is that it is only 24 miles by truck to the fertilizer consignee compared to 42 miles from Port Manatee, which significantly reduces drayage costs.
   Tager didn’t rule out the possibility of some vessels offloading their entire loads at Port Manatee if a deal is struck, but any decisions to do so ultimately would like with the suppliers or receivers that arrange the ocean transportation. 
   Read more about Port Tampa Bay’s cargo situation and Redwing development efforts in this month’s American Shipper magazine feature, “Work in Progress.”