Port of Olympia signs Weyerhaeuser

Port of Olympia signs Weyerhaeuser    Washington’s Port of Olympia Commission has approved a lease between the port and Weyerhaeuser for a 24.5-acre site for a forest products export facility.
   The lease is for a five-year term, with options for three two-year extensions. Startup is expected in the spring of 2006, pending construction site improvements.
   The new facility is expected to handle up to 18 export vessels and 30 barges of inbound logs each year. With the new and ongoing business, more than 100 million board feet of export wood is expected to cross the port docks annually, compared to about 41 million board feet in 2004.
   “The port has established itself as a regional log load center, and this move captures a market opportunity that is a natural extension of what we already do well,” said Port Commission President Bob Van Schoorl, in a statement Tuesday.
   “The move to Olympia (from Tacoma) is driven by changes in Weyerhaeuser timberlands ownership in the Pacific Northwest over the last few years,” said Brad Kitselman, Weyerhaeuser’s marketing director for western timberlands. “Since we no longer own tree farms in King and Pierce counties, the Olympia location better serves our operations in Southwest Washington. In addition, the Port of Olympia can handle larger ships than the current Tacoma export facility.”
   As part of Olympia’s facility improvements, the port is planning to spend $4 million for paving cargo yards and berthing areas, utility work, lighting and other berth enhancements. Construction starts this fall.
   Hours of operation will be from 6 a.m. to midnight, and an average of 125 trucks per day will deliver logs to the new facility. According to the port, peak traffic times will end by mid-afternoon to minimize heavier traffic times on city streets.
   To accommodate the new facility, changes in yard layout are planned, and several companies doing business in the port will be affected, the port said.