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SOUTH JERSEY PORT OPENS COCOA BEAN SEASON TO FEED AMERICA’S CHOCOLATE CRAVING

Camden, N.J. – Americans need their chocolate fix – even more in a pandemic – and it’s the South Jersey Port’s mission to help satisfy it.

On December 16, the annual flow of high-quality cocoa beans from West Africa will begin a month early when 215,000 sacks of cocoa beans are off-loaded at the Joseph A. Balzano Marine Terminal in Camden from the ship “Four Diamonds.”

“Working with our partners, Camden International Commodities Terminals and Delaware River Stevedores, we’ve become the premier cocoa bean import terminal on the East Coast,” Andy Saporito, CEO and Executive Director of SJPC.

The cocoa bean business means more jobs. In addition to the scores of full-time terminal workers, hundreds of local day-laborers are hired throughout the season to sort, store, and handle millions of sacks of cocoa beans for final processing by major confectionary companies including chocolate giants: Hershey, Mars, and Blommer.

Last year,  two million burlap bags (40,000 tons) of cocoa beans were slung off ships by DRS stevedores, onto SJPC’s patented trolleys, and hauled immediately by Champion Trucking into the CICT warehouse across the street from the Balzano Terminal.

“Our process at South Jersey Port is far more efficient than containerized beans,” Jeff Wheeler, president of CICT explained. “We eliminate that additional step of loading and unloading millions of bags of beans from containers – both here and at the source.”

“It is a seamless team effort from ship to warehouse honed over 20 years of expert experience to deliver every bean,” added Robert Palaima of Delaware River Stevedores.  

It’s hard manual work, a South Jersey Port expertise.

“It’s the hardest work on the waterfront,” Wheeler added. “We’ll be offloading 215,000 bags from the ‘Four Diamonds.’ Each bag weighs 150 pounds! Our people don’t shy away from it. They’ve developed the skills that make our terminal the most efficient handler of chocolate gold.”

“For most of our day-labor crews, it’s a family affair: fathers and sons, aunts and nieces, brother and sister, uncles and nephews. And they’re getting a nice payday before Christmas. We’re all excited when the ship comes in!”

The 14,000 tons of beans brought in by the “Four Diamonds” is the first installment on what is hoped to be a rebounding cocoa bean import business that was damaged last year by market effects of COVID-19.

Chocolate is an impulse buy and perfecting the balance of supply and demand has been extraordinarily complex as confectionary companies realign their marketing strategies from brick and mortar stores to digital in order to energize sales.

“We believe we’re going to see a significant rebound in chocolate demand, especially as vaccines against COVID come online,” said Wheeler. “Cocoa bean inventories in the U.S. are comparatively low, need to be replenished and, as consumption ticks up, so will the need for more imports.” 

The West African import season runs through April and is followed by months of imports of cocoa beans from evolving Central American growers.

Update re: Phone System Outage – Service Restored Copy

***UPDATE 6/9/2020 All phone system service is restored, thank you for your patience***

The phone system outage is related to damaged fiber lines from the June 3rd storm.  Utility crews must finish clearing downed power lines before fiber restoration crews are permitted to access the site.  Please contact us via email or mobile phone in the interim. Click here for the staff directory. Thank you for your continued patience. 

Foreign-Trade Zone 142 – Application for Reorganization and Expansion Under Alternative Site Framework

Foreign-Trade Zone 142 – Salem/Millville, New Jersey

Application for Reorganization and Expansion Under Alternative Site Framework

An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones (FTZ) Board by the South Jersey Port Corporation, grantee of FTZ 142, requesting authority to reorganize and expand the zone under the alternative site framework (ASF) adopted by the FTZ Board (15 CFR Sec. 400.2(c)). The ASF is an option for grantees for the establishment or reorganization of zones and can permit significantly greater flexibility in the designation of new subzones or “usage-driven” FTZ sites for operators/users located within a grantee’s “service area” in the context of the FTZ Board’s standard 2,000-acre activation limit for a zone. The application was submitted pursuant to the Foreign-Trade Zones Act, as amended (19 U.S.C. 81a-81u), and the regulations of the Board (15 CFR part 400). It was formally docketed on October 11, 2018.

FTZ 142 was approved by the FTZ Board on August 25, 1987 (Board Order 358, 52 FR 33855, September 8, 1987).

The current zone includes the following sites: Site 1 (95 acres)—Port of Salem complex, Salem; Site 2 (10 acres)—Walnut Street warehouse complex, Salem; and, Site 3 (144 acres)—Millville Municipal Airport Industrial Park, Millville.

The grantee’s proposed service area under the ASF would be the Counties of Mercer, Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, Salem, Cumberland and Cape May, New Jersey, as described in the application. If approved, the grantee would be able to serve sites throughout the service area based on companies’ needs for FTZ designation. The application indicates that the proposed service area is within and adjacent to the Philadelphia Customs and Border Protection port of entry.

The applicant is requesting authority to reorganize and expand its existing zone to include all of the existing sites as “magnet” sites. The applicant is also requesting approval of the following magnet site: Proposed Site 4 (1,630 acres)—Repauno/Greenwich rail and port terminal complex, 200 North Repauno Avenue, Gibbstown. The application would have no impact on FTZ 142’s previously authorized subzones.

In accordance with the FTZ Board’s regulations, Kathleen Boyce of the FTZ Staff is designated examiner to evaluate and analyze the facts and information presented in the application and case record and to report findings and recommendations to the FTZ Board.

Public comment is invited from interested parties. Submissions shall be addressed to the FTZ Board’s Executive Secretary at the address below. The closing period for their receipt is December 17, 2018. Rebuttal comments in response to material submitted during the foregoing period may be submitted during the subsequent 15-day period to December 31, 2018.

A copy of the application will be available for public inspection at the Office of the Executive Secretary, Foreign-Trade Zones Board, Room 21013, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230-0002, and in the “Reading Room” section of the FTZ Board’s website, which is accessible via www.trade.gov/ftz. For further information, contact Kathleen Boyce at Kathleen.Boyce@trade.gov or (202) 482-1346.

2014

Board approves an agreement with Holtec International for development of Holtec’s technology and manufacturing facility at Broadway Terminal

2011

Beckett Street Marine Terminal is renamed Joseph A. Balzano Marine Terminal in honor of SJPC’s late executive director Joe Balzano. The City of Camden renames Beckett Street as Joseph A. Balzano Boulevard between 2nd Street and Front Street.