Port of South Louisiana’s Matthews: Record tonnage in 2024

by Stas Margaronis Nov 25, 2024 | Published in Issue 771 on page 10

The Port of South Louisiana is projecting record tonnage in 2024, according to Paul Matthews, CEO, Port of South Louisiana.

The Port of South Louisiana covers a 54-mile stretch of the lower Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. It begins near the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport and winds through St. Charles, St. John the Baptist and St. James parishes. The Port is regularly one of the nation’s largest by tonnage. The Port of South Louisiana is projecting a 5% increase in tonnage for 2024 with Matthews agreeing: “It’s probably about a 5% increase.”

Matthews spoke to AJOT at the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) annual convention on October 29^th in Boston. He reported: “This year we recognize that we had a second straight year of tonnage growth. We haven’t had that much tonnage growth in almost 10-years … Our fiscal year showed that we had another record revenue year … we are financially healthiest that we have ever been as a port.”

Paul Matthews, CEO, Port of South Louisiana

Matthews noted that the Port made two major announcements in 2024:

Woodland Biofuels announced a planned $1.35 billion investment at the Port of South Louisiana to establish the world’s largest carbon negative renewable natural gas plant / ultra-green hydrogen facility. Phase 1 of this project is the largest carbon negative renewable natural gas facility globally. Phase 2 is the world’s largest carbon negative ultra-green hydrogen plant. The Toronto-based company will utilize waste biomass to produce sustainable biofuel used in transportation, heating and electricity generation.

In Phase 1 alone the company expects to create approximately 500 construction jobs and 110 high-paying, permanent, direct new jobs. Louisiana Economic Development estimates that the project will result in 259 indirect new jobs for a total of 869 jobs, 369 of which are permanent.

The new facility will be located at the Globalplex multimodal facility at the Port of South Louisiana. The company expects to permanently remove hundreds of thousands of tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere annually and store it safely underground. Phase 1 is expected to permanently remove 210,000 tons of CO2 annually. Phase 2 will remove approximately 660,000 tons of CO2 annually.

Life for Tyres Group Limited, Europe’s largest end-of-life tire recycling company with manufacturing facilities for sustainable commodities, announced it will invest $46 million to establish its first U.S. processing facility on 10 acres at the Port of South Louisiana.

The recycling and manufacturing plant, L4T Louisiana LLC, will convert end-of-life tires into high-quality sustainable commodities such as advanced biofuel feedstock, recovered carbon black and scrap steel. L4T expects to create 46 direct new jobs in St. John the Baptist Parish. Louisiana Economic Development estimates the project will result in 151 indirect new jobs, for a total of 197 potential new jobs in the Southeast Region.

The new investment was hailed by Governor Jeff Landry: “This new project is a perfect example of the power of the ports to drive investment and job creation in Louisiana … In addition to the tremendous impact this foreign investment will have on the state and local economies, L4T will support Louisiana-based oil and gas and petroleum chemical companies with high-quality sustainable commodities that help them achieve their carbon management goals.”

New Construction at the Port

Matthews said new construction projects are imminent at the Port: “Speaking of construction, we have 18 projects that are going to be under construction over the next six to 12 months which total about a hundred million dollars. The biggest one is our second dock access bridge at Globalplex. So, the main access bridge we have now is too narrow for simultaneous … ingress and egress for trucks. So, with this one right next to it, which is roughly $36 million, we will be able to have that (new bridge), and we will keep the old one. So now we can triple our throughputs for trucks.”

Grain

The Port continues to lead in U.S. grain exports, Matthews says: “So we are the number one export of grain in the United States, and that’s not going to change. 60% of the nation’s grain is exported down the lower Mississippi River that may go up to 70%. And much of that is because of the need for more grain in Europe and North Africa as a result of the Russian Ukraine crisis. And particularly (with) wheat … we’ve seen 136% increase in wheat exports out of the Port of South Louisiana because America’s farmers are having to push out more of that demand … We’ve actually seen the Netherlands, who was our fourth largest export partner, is now number two because of this crisis and more and more grain from America is going to Europe.”

The result according to Port statistics the Port generates:

Over 50% of all U.S. grain exports
Soybean – 40.4 million short tons
Maize – 31.4 million short tons
Animal Feed – 12.1 million short tons
Wheat – 3.8 million short tons
1 million short tons of other grain [Milo (Sorghum) and Rice]

The Port is also one of the top energy transfer ports in the United States:

Petroleum Imports:

43% of imports – Crude Oil, Petroleum Products, and other mineral fuels
Crude Oil – 58.9 million short tons
Not Impacted by Low Water on the Mississippi

Problems with low water on the Mississippi, due to a lack of rainfall, are not impacting the Port, Matthews said: “We have not seen any significant changes on our end … in (the) lower Mississippi River. Usually when there’s … low water … the difficulty is in Tennessee, Arkansas, Illinois, and Missouri … And so, the … traffic issues are there, but once they get down to … our area, we’re able to get a lot of that grain exported out by ship. So, we haven’t seen any changes.”