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State Senator Nilsa Cruz-Perez and her legislative counterparts in the 5th Legislative District Assemblyman Bill Spearman and Bill Moen joined Camden City Councilman Angel Fuentes for a tour of the Balzano Marine Terminal on July 16.

The legislative team whose district includes Camden City, home to Balzano Marine Terminal and Broadway Marine Terminal, continues to be strong champions of the SJP’s mission in the New Jersey State Legislature and advocates for the needs of their constituents from quality of life to job creation and economic stability.

“The port is a pillar of Camden’s economy and with that comes the responsibility to the people of the city,” said Senator Cruz-Perez. “And it’s important that the port continues to be a good corporate citizen that runs its business respectful of the people are the backbone of our city.”

“Yes, jobs matter,” added Assemblyman Moen. “But just as important is improving the quality of life of our neighborhoods and this tour affirmed to me the SJPC’s commitment toward that mission, too.

Assemblyman Spearman and City Councilman President Angel Fuentes, who also toured the port, agreed.

“The port is taking some important steps. Big steps like switching from diesel to electric to power its equipment fleet and some small steps like switching to LED lighting to reduce its carbon footprint, which takes investment,” said Assemblyman Spearman.

“We are fortunate to work hand-in-hand with government leaders,” said Andy Saporito, Executive Director and CEO of SJP. “Creating jobs is our mission, but being a good neighbor is equally important. Reducing our carbon footprint is important, but so is reducing the impact of truck traffic to and from our terminals on neighborhoods. By working with our legislators, city government, and residents we can improve the quality of life in our neighborhoods.”

“South Jersey Port Corporation (SJPC) has been a great business partner for us for many, many years,” said Peter Svensson, senior vice president and head of Clipper America said, reflecting on the millions of tons of steel that his ships have moved over three decades through the SJPC’s Balzano Marine Terminal in Camden and the record tonnage projected through 2023.

“Although South Jersey Ports is a state organization, they manage and run it as a private company,” Svensson explained. “They are great partners. The key for us is having adequate docking and adequate warehousing space so we can move our cargo as efficiently as possible. And most importantly, so our ships aren’t unnecessarily burning money moored at the dock waiting to move cargo. Time is money. And SJPC has consistently delivered for us.”

Customer service and satisfaction is the operating imperative of the team at SJPC which is led by their Executive Director and CEO, Andy Saporito. “It’s personal to us because our customers, like Peter, are personal to us,” Saporito explained. “We all have our bottom lines. A ship unloading at the dock is costing Peter and his company upwards of $35,000 a day. That is factored into the rate he charges his customer. If that ship is idle at the dock, the increase in cost is something that comes out of our customer’s pocket and it is our job to ensure our terminal is the best option.”

South Jersey Port is committed to earning the trust and business of its partners like Peter at Clipper America. “We earn that trust by being a solid, dependable partner who focuses on our customers’ needs,” said Brendan Dugan, Assistant Executive Director/Director of Business Development for SJPC. “Our team here proactively works to mitigate any obstacles to our mutual success. SJPC is expert in the handling of high-value, high-quality cargo like the coiled steel and tin plate that Clipper America entrusts to us.”

That commitment and expertise is paying dividends with SJPC eclipsing Houston as Clipper America’s top American port of call.

“In the old days, our first port of call in the United States from Antwerp would be New Haven/New London Connecticut and we’d sail down to Camden offload 15,000 to 17,000 tons and then go to Savannah, Houston, and the Gulf ports,” Svensson explained. “Now our ships go directly from Antwerp to Camden and we’re delivering full shiploads, with upward of 30,000 tons. This year is probably our strongest year ever in Camden, probably around 400,000 tons and we project that will last another two years into 2023.”

COVID and the tariffs on imported steel had a devastating impact on shipping and the global supply chain. “March and April of 2020 weren’t the end of the business, but it was pretty gray and dark,” Svensson observed. “When Summer came, shipping went up and stayed that way from much of the second half of 2021. Q1 of 2021 “took off like a space shuttle to Mars and it is still going strong. A year ago, in February of 2020, you could get a ship for $5,000 to $6,000 a day. Today, you’re lucky to get it for $34,000 to $35,000 a day.”

The disruption to the supply chain won’t be fixed soon. Millions of empty cargo containers need to be relocated to exporters, warehouses are clogged with cargo because there are not enough trucks and rail to move it, or the workers to do the work.

Fortunately, SJPC has the available warehousing, trucking, rail, and workers to get the job done and has become the default port for coil steel and tinplate imports for manufacturers in the mid-west and along the Great Lakes.

“Camden is a funny beast,” Svensson explained. “It has two seasons for the steel that is destined for manufacturers on the Great Lakes. When the Saint Lawrence Seaway is closed from December to April, Camden is booming. Typically, when the weather improves, the Saint Lawrence Seaway reopens, and we see a decline in volume in Camden. But that is not the case this year. We’re into August with the Saint Lawrence Seaway fully opened and we’re moving full ships with 27,000 tons of steel coil directly to Camden.”

To grow a job-rich offshore wind industry while mitigating the damages of climate change, construction at the Paulsboro Marine Terminal is moving feverishly and on time to build a $250 million factory to manufacture the massive monopiles which are the bedrock of the wind-energy industry along the Atlantic coast.

South Jersey Port Corporation (SJPC)and the State of New Jersey are investing over $500 million throughout southern New Jersey to build the maritime facilities and expertise which will serve as the manufacturing and support center of the emerging $100 billion off-shore wind-energy industry… and it’s paying off.

EEW Group, the world’s premier manufacturer of monopiles, is replicating its German monopile factory at the Paulsboro Marine Terminal. The $250 million project is on schedule with the first building to be completed in early 2022, one year after ground-breaking.

The facility will produce monopiles up to 400 feet high and 40 feet in diameter. Barged out to sea, each monopile weighing up to 5 million pounds, will be hoisted by a specialized heavy-lift sea crane and driven into the seabed. They will rise above the surface of the water to support the gigantic tower, blades, and turbine rising another 800 feet. EEW-Paulsboro plans to produce the monopiles for both Orsted projects (Ocean Wind 1 and 2) and for EDF/Shell’s Atlantic Shores project. They are also in talks to provide monopile foundations for other offshore wind-energy projects along the East Coast.

“Our intention is to supply monopiles for every project in North America,” Lee Laurendeau, the CEO of EEW American Offshore Structures told National Geographic.

By 2024, EEW’s Paulsboro facilities will include six massive manufacturing buildings and an estimated 500 employees – working three shifts a day, six days a week – churning out 100 massive monopiles a year. To feed the production line, EEW will require approximately 150,000 tons of steel per year.

The first assembly building, which will be used for circumference welding, is expected to be completed in early 2022. Totaling 100,400 square feet, the building requires 10,000 tons of concrete and 12,000 tons of steel to construct. It will be topped off with the final steel beam this month with the final skin, mechanicals, power, and massive welding and manufacturing equipment installed over the following months. The facility’s office building is also expected to be completed by early 2022.

Construction of the 40,652 square foot Paint and Blast building will begin this September and is scheduled to be finished in Summer 2022. It will be fitted out with machinery and an air filtration system to protect the integrity of the monopiles and ensure their finishing can withstand decades of saltwater and waves in the Atlantic Ocean. Although fully integrated manufacturing won’t be operational until 2024, assembly of the monopiles will begin in 2023 for Orsted’s Ocean Wind 1 project. In the initial transitional phase, EEW American Offshore Structures will import from Germany semi-completed monopiles in three sections to Paulsboro for final circumference welding and finishing. It’s a process that is maximizing the facilities as soon as possible and gearing up expert training with a focus on quality control, technical expertise, and safety of an emerging American workforce.

When all six manufacturing buildings are completed and fully operational, all aspects of manufacturing including rolling steel into massive cylinders, welding, and painting, will be produced in Paulsboro, New Jersey, employing an anticipated 500 employees.

The South Jersey Port Corporation (SJPC) and Holt Logistics Corporation have created a beneficial partnership that drives their mutual success and is a cornerstone to New Jersey’s efforts to be the epicenter of the $100 billion offshore wind energy industry.

“We succeed when our tenants, customers, and partners succeed,” explained Andy Saporito, the SJPC’s Executive Director and CEO. “We share the mission of fueling a robust economy for South Jersey and growing and supporting jobs throughout the region.”

Leo Holt, president of Holt Logistics Corporation agrees: “We’re job-providers… providers of family-sustaining jobs across our ecosystem of many different platforms that go beyond dockworkers, teamsters, and machinists.”

The partnership is a vital part of the supply chain supporting manufacturing, construction, and industrial jobs – as well as that of their suppliers and vendors, throughout New Jersey and the region stretching to the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes regions.

“It’s the virtuous byproduct of what we – Holt and South Jersey Ports – do,” added Holt.

As a stevedore operating company, warehousing, and ship operator headquartered in Gloucester City, New Jersey, the Holt family company has been a fierce maritime competitor along the Delaware River since 1926 and has built a worldwide reputation as a top origin to market logistics provider.

Today the once competitive relationship between SJPC and Holt has morphed into a partnership. Holt leases and operates two of SJPC’s most important assets: Pier 5 at Broadway Marine Terminal, the refrigerated fresh-fruit center of the port; and the newer Paulsboro Marine Terminal the keystone of the emerging offshore wind energy industry.

At Pier 5, Holt provides importers and exporters with a vertically integrated supply chain solution. There are three reefer buildings with more than 200,000 square feet of refrigerated warehouse space and 100 reefer plugs. Pier 5 has one berth with 1,135 linear feet at a depth of 35 feet. There is direct highway access to I-295 via I-676 and connections to Class 1 freight rail lines owned by NS, CSX, and Conrail.

SJPC invested $400 million to construct Paulsboro Marine Terminal, which Holt now operates. By building a terminal with heavy lifting load capacity, the port has the unique capacity to accommodate the huge and heavy monopiles for offshore wind farms while also accommodating much lighter general cargo as well as the steel slab imports for buildings, highways, cars, and appliances. This has positioned Southern New Jersey as a key import location for the steel industry and for the manufacturing, construction, support, and maintenance for the Atlantic coast wind energy industry.

The Paulsboro Marine Terminal is at a depth of 45 feet. It has three berths with 3,200 linear feet, two Liebherr mobile harbor cranes, trucks, lift equipment, reach stackers, and trailers. There is the ability to discharge or load heavy cargo direct to or from rail and the ability to load two trains simultaneously because there is a loop track and center loading track. For transportation, there is direct road access to Interstate 295 and on-dock rail that connects to Class I Freight Railroads: Norfolk Southern, CSX, and CP Rail. So far, with many new projects in the planning phase, Holt has invested nearly $15 million into the operation.

EEW, the German manufacturer of the massive steel monopiles is constructing a $250 million, six-building industrial complex at Paulsboro Marine Terminal to manufacture 100 monopiles a year for contracts it already has. Holt and its steel manufacturing client, NLMK, plan to compete to supply the 150,000 tons of rolled steel EEW will need each year to be fabricated into monopiles.

Even before Paulsboro was officially opened, Holt was unloading Russian steel at the terminal for NLMK Group’s steel plant in Farrell, Pennsylvania. In 2016, Holt moved 1.6 million tons of steel slabs through the port. In the following years, NLMK and other steel importers were hit with massive Federal tariffs on steel imports in an effort to boost domestic steel production. As a result, NLMK’s tonnage plummeted to one million tons annually as its steel plant, was starving for affordable steel slabs as domestic producers simply raised their prices. Then COVID recession hit shrinking demand and starving the supply chain. Holt responded by investing millions in employee safety protocols and preparing for the rebound.

Holt credited NLMK for its smart mitigation. It successfully reversed the tariffs by proving that it is an American manufacturer and diversified its supply chain for steel slabs to include Brazil and Mexico. It reworked its labor contracts that both benefitted its employees and freed up capital to finance a $200 million “Walk-in Beam Furnace” that will improve NLMK’s productivity and produce massive steel beams.

Now, the steel market can’t keep up with the demand as the global economy rebounds. “If you want to build a building, you can’t get the steel joists because Amazon has it bought for six to eight months out to build its fulfillment centers,” Holt observed.

The American supply chain needs more imported steel slabs to fuel the recovery and mitigate inflation. Holt anticipates its slab imports at Paulsboro will rebound past the previous high of 1.6 million tons annually to 2 million tons and more for the foreseeable future.