New port operation aims for Spring 2016 opening
By John Rech
johnrech58@yahoo.com
Cargill broke ground Friday at their new riverside facility on South Loop in West Memphis. Company leadership explained the project’s impact from the local economy all the way through the supply and logistics chain leading to China as city officials welcomed Cargill to West Memphis and touted the state of the art grain transfer facility on the Mississippi River.
Cargill gave the time frame to open operation as spring of 2016.
The site, situated along the Port of West Memphis has at least 30 feet of water depth and ensures year round operation for all river levels, an operational advantage over the Memphis granaries. The plant will handle soybeans, wheat, rice, corn and cotton. Throughput may happen within hours with a state of the art dryer on site.
Soybean production in particular is eyed by Cargill at West Memphis. Beans will be barged to New Orleans in five to six days, where vegetable oil is to be extracted, with the remaining beans shipped to China for the good protein content in poultry feed.
Southern River Regional Manager Fred Oelschlaeger presented Cargill’s mission to feed people. The new granary serves as a key link from the interior U.S. producers to the Chinese market.
“Arkansas is a place that has historically grown a lot of beans and continues to do a very good job expanding acres and production,” said Oelschlaeger. “To feed the need that China has, this is an area being looked at internationally. The Arkansas Delta in particular is a region that has a lot of beans and a lot production available for export.”
Cargill Build Project Manager John Schmidt expressed gratitude toward the wide array of people involved in the new granary.
“This is our opportunity to thank everybody that had a part in this. We have worked with City, Mayor Johnson, and Ward Wimbish have been very supportive,” said Schmidt. “The Corps of Engineers and Rob Rash and the St. Francis Levee Board love their levee, so we wanted to make sure everything was up to their standards. We have a good team of contractors out here working to finish it off.”
Schmidt gave a thumbnail of project priorities.
“There is obviously schedule and budget concerns but the most important aspect is safety,” said Schmidt. “You see all the cranes swinging and all the activity on site. Safety is something very important to us. Construction Manager Don Hanke is constantly talking safety to the contractors. We also want to be focused on plant capabilities. We are expecting this plant to be here for the next 60 years. So how we build things now is extremely important to operations in the coming years. Farmers can come onto the place to dump and feel it is safe. Anyone working on the river in marine, switching barges can feel safe. We are very focused on safety long-term.”
Before folks grabbed the ceremonial golden shovels to turn over the sand on the Mississippi River bank, West Memphis Director of Economic Development Ward Wimbish gushed about the new Cargill plant. Wimbish extended greetings to Cargill from State Senator Keith Ingram and Mayor Bill Johnson.
“We are glad you are here. China is a big market for us. We take two to three trips there each year,” said Wimbish. “China imports over 70 percent of their soybean needs. They just started importing corn and Cargill is on the cutting edge of mid-America becoming a major exporter of agri-products. We work with the port of New Orleans and the port of Baton Rouge as inland ports because Governor Huey P. Long built a bridge north of Baton Rouge. Now ocean ships cannot come up any further. You’re here because this is a deep water port. It does fluctuate 65 feet. The port of Memphis was closed for 27 weeks two years ago with less than five feet of water in it. We still had over 30 feet. You chose well. We are glad you are here.”
Wimbish changed from water access to over the road logistics consideration.
“I know the farmers of eastern Arkansas are particularly glad you are here. We hear horror stories about getting across the bridge and up to North Second Street in Memphis. This makes for a quiet change in the economy as farmers will save time and expense coming here. This is a state of the art facility where a truck can be dumped in 48 seconds. So the farmers are glad you are here.”
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