Colonial Terminals acquires Cape Fear bulk liquid facility

Site adds 550,000 barrels of storage capacity

CTI's latest acquisition gives it more than eight million barrels of capacity in the Southeast. (Photo: CTI)

Colonial Terminals Inc. (CTI) announced it acquired a bulk liquid terminal in Wilmington, North Carolina, from Buckeye Terminals.

The facility provides roughly 550,000 barrels of storage capacity along the Cape Fear River and sits near another site that is already owned and operated by CTI. The two sites together have more than 1 million barrels of capacity and are accessible by rail and truck in addition to water. The properties primarily store industrial chemicals, specialty chemicals and petroleum.

CTI said it plans to retain all employees working at the Buckeye location.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“This adjacent facility adds a new berth and substantial river frontage to our already large footprint on the Cape Fear River, and we’re eager to offer new capabilities for existing customers as well as attract new customers and products to the market,” said CTI President Ryan Chandler.

The nearly 100-year-old company now has the largest independent liquid and dry bulk storage network with breakbulk capabilities in the Southeast. The acquisition brings CTI’s liquid capacity to 8 million barrels across seven terminals, five of which are in Georgia. The network also provides dry capacity of 200,000 tons of vertical storage and 400,000 square feet of covered flat storage.

“Wilmington is a gateway to the growing Southeastern US market, and we believe this acquisition strongly positions our team to support current and new customer growth far into the future,” said Chandler.

In June, the company announced a more than $100 million project to develop 17 acres along the Savannah River in Georgia. That breakbulk operation will be served by Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC).

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Todd Maiden

Based in Richmond, VA, Todd is the finance editor at FreightWaves. Prior to joining FreightWaves, he covered the TLs, LTLs, railroads and brokers for RBC Capital Markets and BB&T Capital Markets. Todd began his career in banking and finance before moving over to transportation equity research where he provided stock recommendations for publicly traded transportation companies.