ALABAMA STATE DOCKS TONNAGE UP 13.2%

TRAILER BRIDGE GETS $29 MILLION IN FINANCING    The Alabama State Docks, which operates the port of Mobile and 10 inland docks, reported fiscal year tonnage of 17.82 million tons, up 13.2 percent from fiscal 1999.
   The majority of the increase came at the McDuffie Island Bulk Terminal, where tonnage increased 37.7 percent to 11.97 million tons. Coal accounted for 10.29 million tons of that total while iron ore volumes nearly doubled to 1.25 million tons.
   “We handled about the same amount of import coal as we did export coal — a bit more than 5 million tons each,” said James K. Lyons, chief executive officer of the state docks. “This is a switch for a port that has been known in the past for its exports. Our export tonnage, which has dropped in recent years, did increase this year, and our import tonnage hit a new high.”
   The state docks has partnered with Drummond Coal Co. to add a second ship unloader crane at McDuffie. The crane is being prepared by ZPMC in Shanghai and will be delivered by the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2001.
   General cargo tonnage was down slightly in fiscal year 2000, to 3.33 million tons. Forest products remained strong, followed by iron and steel and aluminum, Lyons said.
   Mobile’s Bulk Material Handling Plant saw tonnage increase 17.6 percent to 2.51 million tons, although the terminal lost its major customer to bankruptcy at the end of the fiscal year.
   Leaseholders contributed 1.62 million tons to the state docks’ total, led by Farmers Grain Dealers with 1.00 million tons. PhenolChemie, which moved into the state docks Liquid Bulk Terminal in Theodore in May, handled 362,188 tons.