Vancouver port approves copper export agreement

Vancouver port approves copper export agreement    Port of Vancouver, USA commissioners recently approved a six-year agreement with bulk terminal operator Kinder Morgan, and voted to build a 72,000-square-foot storage facility to allow the port to capitalize on the exploding copper concentrate export market.
   The commission action extends the management agreement between the port and Kinder Morgan Bulk Terminals through 2011 with two five-year renewal options that could extend the contract to 2021.
   The need for the new building is based on a 92 percent increase in dry bulk exports through the port in 2005, and projected continuing demand from Asian markets, port officials said in a statement. Copper concentrate, a new export for the port in late 2004, totaled 268,132 metric tons last year. An additional 187,842 metric tons of bentonite clay were also exported.