Corpus Christi to handle grain shipment to Cuba

Corpus Christi to handle grain shipment to Cuba    The Port of Corpus Christi said Tuesday it will handle a second shipment of grain to Havana, Cuba, in what could become a regular business for the Texas port.
   WestStar Food Co. LLC of Corpus Christi, and its partner Yellowstone Bean Co. of Montana have contracted with Cuba's import agency, ALIMPORT, for about 6.6 million pounds of Montana dry beans to move through the Port of Corpus Christi destined for Cuba in mid-December. The contract is worth about $1.5 million.
   'This is the first in what we hope will become a regular shipment to Cuba,' said Pat Wallesen, managing partner of WestStar Food Co. WestStar leases transfer and bagging facilities at the Port of Corpus Christi's Southside Terminal.
   The Montana beans will be railed to Corpus Christi, sacked and loaded aboard a barge to Cuba by mid-December, the port said. Corpus Christi is about a two-day sail to Havana.
   In October, the port handled about 20,000 tons of wheat destined for Havana. The port in July signed a strategic memorandum of understanding with Cuba.