Redwood City rises on scrap metal exports

Redwood City rises on scrap metal exports    Port of Redwood City in California reported cargo tonnage for the fiscal year ending June 30 of 871,940 metric tons, up 3.5 percent over the previous year,
   Sims Metals, a 35-year port client, exported nearly 445,000 metric tons in the fiscal year, mostly to the Far East. Port Executive Director Mike Giari credited Sims' record to strong demand abroad for scrap metal, the company's expanded staging area at the port, and metal scrap arriving by both truck and rail.
   Sims Metal is one of the largest exporters of recycled materials in the San Francisco Bay Area. In the past four years, the company has invested $14 million in its Redwood City operation, by improving 'downstream' recovery of non-ferrous metals, adding concrete paving, and installing advanced storm water controls, and modern processing equipment.
   'The port facility isn't your grandfather's recycling facility or just some junk yard,' said Steve Shinn, Sims' west regional president, in a statement. 'This is an advanced facility with multimillion-dollar technology. Gone are the days of just crushing cars into blocks and shipping them to steel mills. Today, Sims is utilizing magnets, eddy currents, and optical sorting to reduce the need for landfilling as much as we can.'
   Redwood City in fiscal year 2011 also imported 49,628 metric tons of bauxite, a 19 percent increase; 31,755 tons of domestic sand, up 2 percent; 160,378 tons of building material aggregates, down 7 percent; and 185,566 tons of imported sand, down 7 percent. Thirty-six vessels called on the port in the fiscal year.