Freeport, Horizon Terminal Services to expand acreage

A 20-acre tract will be added to the lease holdings between the port and Horizon, which opened a 70,000-square-foot vehicle-processing building at Port Freeport in 2015.

   Port Freeport and Horizon Terminal Services (HTS) signed an agreement last week to add a 20-acre tract to their current lease holdings to accommodate additional automobiles and ro/ro cargo, the port announced Friday.
   The agreement will add acreage to the 60 acres HTS, a private automotive marine terminal, processor and logistics management company, currently leases at the Texas port. It will utilize the new acreage as a staging area for receiving and delivering of all cargoes with a main focus on OEM imports, Jason Miura, director of business and economic development at Port Freeport, told American Shipper via email Monday.
   The new tract, which has an approximately 12-month construction timetable and is expected to increase total OEM yearly capacity by 100,000 units, is adjacent to the port’s import truck away yard and the new rail tracks and yard that Port Freeport is completing construction on this month, Miura said.
   HTS opened a 70,000-square-foot vehicle-processing building at the port in 2015 for the import and export of vehicles and heavy construction equipment.
   The Port of Freeport handled nearly 70,000 vehicles in 2018, 90% of which were new vehicles, a 40% increase over the previous year, the port said.
   “The port commission is pleased that Horizon Terminal Services is expanding their operations at Port Freeport,” Port Chairman Paul Kresta said in a statement. “Positioning themselves for continued growth is positive for the port and will lead to more job opportunities for the area. We look forward to our continued partnership with HTS.”
   The Texas port’s commissioners voted May 16 to accept the 2019 Economic Impact Analysis performed by Texas A&M Transportation Institute and based on 2017 data. It revealed a statewide impact of 150,651 jobs, federal tax revenues of $3.2 billion and a total economic output of $98.8 billion, which was double the output reported in the previous analysis performed in 2016, according to the port.
   Nationally, the Port of Freeport’s impact on the U.S. economy is 279,780 jobs, federal tax revenue of $5.4 billion and a total economic impact of $149 billion. Its 2017 exports eclipsed $1.48 billion, a 58% increase over the previous year, the port said.