Category: News

The final numbers are in and the South Jersey Port Corporation closed out 2021 with an all-time record-breaking cargo volume of 4,636,097 tons, a 54% increase over 2020, breaking the previous record by 6%. 

“That’s the best in the history of the South Jersey Ports and we’re expecting 2022 to be a very strong year that may top 2021,” reported Andy Saporito, Executive Director and CEO of South Jersey Port Corporation at the monthly meeting of the Board of Directors.  “This milestone is a testament to the skilled workers and partners who keep goods moving through the supply chain while our team seeks solutions to improve efficiency, attract business and build for the future.  The ongoing collaboration with SJPC’s labor force and industry partners lifted the port to this extraordinary record during the challenging time of the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Saporito.

The dramatic increases in tonnage came from nearly all the SJPC’s prime cargo sectors: steel, plywood, recycled metals, cocoa beans, cement, and gypsum. The lone laggard, sand exports, is expected to increase as the national infrastructure plan is implemented.  

Rebounding steel imports led the way with 2,399,076 tons, a 141% increase over 2020.  The majority of this increase occurred at the Paulsboro Marine Terminal which moved 1,760,018 tons of steel slabs.  Plywood import tonnage increased by 98% totaling 220,812 tons demonstrating the Camden terminals as a premiere plywood portal on the East Coast.  Cocoa beans totaled 76,108 tons, a 36% increase verses 2020 totals. Exports of recycled metals increased by 10% and cement increased by 8%. 

The number of ship days was 960 days compared to 549 ship days in 2020, a 75% increase. “Ship days is the number of days a ship is loading or unloading at its terminal” explained Kevin Duffy, Assistant Executive Director / Chief Operating Officer. “We’ve worked hard to ensure we continue to operate safely and efficiently to move the increased cargo and have space to meet our customers’ needs”.  

Brendan Dugan, Assistant Executive Director / Director of Business Development, expects the cargo activity at South Jersey Ports to remain strong for the foreseeable future due to the national infrastructure plan and New Jersey’s leadership role in the $109 billion offshore wind industry.  EEW Group, which is building a $300 million manufacturing plant at the Paulsboro Marine Terminal to provide the massive steel monopiles for the offshore wind farms along the entire eastern seaboard, will ultimately require 150,000 tons of imported steel annually to meet their customers’ demand.  To build on this momentum, SJPC is conducting a study of the Port of Salem, which is a smaller port just down river from Paulsboro that could become an important supply port for the local offshore wind support services industry.  

“The challenge is to build the infrastructure to grow the port while operating more efficiently to meet current demands,” said Dugan.  South Jersey Ports received a $6 million grant to upgrade the rail infrastructure at one of their Camden terminals and a $9 million grant for wharf infrastructure improvements at the Salem Terminal.  “We identified an old building that we might refurbish to put another 40,000 square feet of storage space online and meet long-term customer demands.” 

“We continue to focus on upgrading technology and automation to optimize the fluid movement of cargo through our terminals and to ensure our customers’ storage and inventory needs are met”, added COO Kevin Duffy.

The South Jersey Port Corporation was created in 1968 to operate marine shipping terminals in the South Jersey Port District, consisting of seven counties: Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, Salem, Cumberland, Mercer, and Cape May. The South Jersey Ports is a national leader in bulk and breakbulk cargo, shipping and receiving to and from Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe.  Their four international seaport facilities in South Jersey handle more than four million tons of bulk, breakbulk and containerized cargoes annually.

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.

South Jersey Ports will receive a $9 Million grant from the US Department of Transportation for expansion of its barge capacity and intermodal rail connectivity at the Port of Salem.  This Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant supports the port’s existing sand and concrete shipments while strengthening New Jersey’s leadership in building, supporting and manufacturing key components for the offshore wind industry off the Atlantic Coast.  

The project will rehabilitate a 150-linear-foot bulkhead and extend it to approximately 400 linear feet; perform site preparation, improvements, and refurbish a multi-modal rail connection. 

“This is another example of the broad support for the ongoing development of South Jersey’s marine terminals to be the premiere logistical, manufacturing and support center for a job-rich, carbon-free, Green Economy growing along our coast… as well as our general cargo mission,” said Andrew Saporito, Executive Director and CEO of South Jersey Ports.

“We want to thank our Congressional delegation, especially U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, U.S. Senator Cory Booker, Congressman Donald Norcross and Congressman Jeff Van Drew for their consistent support for South Jersey Ports. They’ve been working in tandem with Governor Phil Murphy, Senate President Steve Sweeney, Assemblyman John Burzichelli and Assemblyman Adam Taliaferro to make South Jersey a national leader of this dynamic, new economy while also improving our overall capacity to service our current and future marine cargo customers.”

Salem Marine Terminal – with multi-modal rail connections, close links to interstate highways and bridges, barge and navigation expertise along the Salem River, and its sibling South Jersey marine terminals – provide an integrated port network to support the development of the offshore wind farms.

New Jersey has attracted billions of dollars in investment in its offshore wind industry and has awarded over 3,700 megawatts of offshore wind capacity, which is the most in the country.  South Jersey Ports has already invested $400 million to build the Paulsboro Marine Terminal, which handles one million tons of steel cargo annually. Engineered with heavy-load decks to accommodate the massive weight of offshore energy components, Paulsboro Marine Terminal will soon transport the 5 million pound monopiles which are the foundation components of the offshore wind towers.  For the past few months, EEW Group, a global-leading manufacturer of monopoles, has been building a $250 million state-of-the-art monopole plant at the Port of Paulsboro.

Doubling down, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority is building the New Jersey Wind Port in Lower Alloways Creek Township – 11 miles from the Salem Marine Terminal – to manufacture, assemble, and deploy the huge offshore wind turbines to the Atlantic Ocean.

In January, SJPC was officially notified that our Camden facilities have been added to the Mid-Atlantic Marine Highway by the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD). The marine highway links the ports of Norfolk, Baltimore, and Philadelphia via a container barge service operated by Columbia Coastal Transport. Over the past year, SJPC has identified import and export business opportunities for the barge service and works with customers and other partners to identify container lines to utilize the service.

“This designation will allow us to expand our service possibilities for both current and new customers,” said Brendan Dugan, Assistant Executive Director/Director of Business Development for South Jersey Port Corporation.

Discussions with MARAD representatives detailed upcoming funding opportunities for Camden and Salem terminals. SJPC, in conjunction with TRIAD Associates, Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant for the Port of Salem. The grants team is currently preparing a FEMA Port Security grant submission for new CCTV camera systems at Camden Terminals. They are also working with TRIAD on potential submissions to MARAD for additional Marine Highway funding and the Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP) and Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grants.

Inclusion in the MARAD marine highway program allows SJPC to apply for grant funding for equipment and infrastructure to accommodate the container barge business. Commercial agreements are still required for importers and exporters to book enough container cargo for Camden.

The federal government finances the marine highway to remove truck traffic from congested U.S. roads and reduce pollution. It is an efficient and cost-effective option for moving cargo.

Governor Phil Murphy’s administration is awarding $6.6 million to the South Jersey Port Corporation to support its ongoing efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, operate more efficiently, and be a better neighbor.

It’s all part of the Governor’s $100 million initiative to reverse climate change by turning to clean energy alternatives and to make New Jersey fully powered by clean energy by 2050.

The Governor is funding his initiative by leveraging proceeds from the reentry into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) and money from the Volkswagen Mitigation Trust Fund.

With this $6.6 million investment, SJPC will replace 27 pieces of older gasoline and diesel forklifts and cargo handling equipment with new electric-powered units and associated charging stations. SJPC aims to systematically convert all of its energy-consuming assets to zero-carbon within the next decade as suitable replacement equipment becomes commercially available.

“Our prime mission is the creation of family-sustaining jobs by attracting cargo through international maritime trade,” said SJPC CEO Andrew Saporito. “But as Governor Murphy warns us, there will be no jobs if we destroy our planet and communities in the process. Jobs are inextricably connected to how we protect our environment and shrink our carbon footprint to zero. We strive to make our operations cleaner and greener while also building the green economy on initiatives such as offshore wind development.”

From steps as simple as planting trees in its host cities to updating warehouse lighting to LED to investing millions in improving direct ship to rail access, SJPC has been working aggressively to reduce its carbon footprint. Instead of retrofitting its vehicles – it can afford to convert its fleet from carbon fuels to electric.

SJPC has become the cornerstone of New Jersey’s growing Green Energy Economy. Its unparalleled location combined with available land and warehouse space and an integrated network of highway, rail, and marine facilities provide the needed infrastructure to support offshore wind energy investments along the East Coast. Its Paulsboro Marine Terminal (PMT) has already emerged as the prime manufacturing site for offshore wind turbines.

“Like our mission, this grant received the strong support from our partners in the state Legislature, especially Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Senator Nilsa Cruz-Perez and Assembly members John Burzichelli, Adam Taliaferro, Bill Spearman, and Bill Moen,” said Saporito.

Combined with being at the epicenter of the offshore wind movement in New Jersey, this grant puts SJPC at the forefront of the clean energy movement. The Port is a prime example of how green energy can translate into good-paying union jobs.

Implicit in these new grants is SJPC’s commitment to sustainability and being a better neighbor to its host communities.

“Camden City officials, who supported this grant opportunity for SJPC, have been a great partner in our efforts to grow jobs and reduce our carbon footprint at our Camden facilities,” Saporito added. “As we work to build new jobs, we remain steadfast in our commitment to creating more sustainable port operations, and we appreciate the city’s support of these initiatives.”

The Americanization of the $100 billion offshore wind energy industry is now roaring to life at the South Jersey Port Corporation’s (SJPC) Paulsboro Marine Terminal (PMT), where EEW American Offshore Structures is constructing a state-of-the-art factory to manufacture massive monopile foundations that support huge offshore wind turbines. EEW is the first company to set up a tier-one factory in the United States, with many more offshore wind companies to follow.

For the SJPC, it means jobs and an increase of 250,000 tons of steel cargo flowing annually through PMT. For New Jersey, it means a break away from the pack of states competing for the bounty of jobs and economic development in the green energy economy, with strong support from President Biden and Governor Murphy.

It’s a game-changer in an industry pioneered and developed by Europeans who took the early risks to build and refine a highly reliable and maturing industry whose technologies are now being exported to PMT, giving New Jersey a competitive advantage.

Offshore wind turbines are constructed with monopile foundations that are driven into the ocean floor, the tower that bolts to the monopile, the nacelle that produces the electricity, and the three (3) blades that extend from the nacelle. All of these components are currently manufactured in Europe. Once constructed, EEW will manufacture monopiles at PMT, and more of the offshore wind components and manufacturing are expected to follow.

It’s a critical leap in the Americanization of the supply chain to support the Nation’s offshore wind energy industry and a validation in New Jersey’s heavy investment to fight climate change while also creating family-sustaining jobs in a green energy economy.

New Jersey is going big.

So is President Joseph R. Biden, who has designated New Jersey as the epicenter for the development of 30,000 megawatts of offshore wind energy farms and is backing it up with $3 billion in federal loan guarantees.

New Jersey has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the industry, and even more investment is planned in the future. In 2005, the SJPC acquired a defunct petrochemical tank farm in Paulsboro, New Jersey, and invested $300 million to turn it into a marine terminal now known as PMT. From the outset, the PMT was engineered with heavy load decks to accommodate the massive weight of offshore energy components.

Doubling down, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority is building a $300 million “Wind Port” in Lower Alloways Township to assemble and deploy the offshore turbines and blades. Turbines and blades are on the New Jersey shopping list.

Monopiles are the indispensable foundation of offshore wind energy farms. They are driven 150 feet into the ocean floor, rise to the surface to support the massive wind towers, turbines, and giant blades that are 850 feet high above the ocean at the highest point.

“Monopiles are massive, and they keep getting bigger as the size of turbines grows, which means we have to keep adapting and making the monopiles larger. We are now targeting diameters of up to 40 feet and lengths of 400 feet long,” said Lee Laurendeau, CEO of EEW American Offshore Structures, the American subsidiary of Germany’s premiere monopile manufacturer EEW Group.

Laurendeau is the New Jersey engineer who built major hi-tech projects worldwide, including the 500,000 square foot Holtec nuclear vessel manufacturing facility at the SJPC’s Broadway Marine Terminal in Camden.

He is building the $250 million clone of EEW’s Rostock, Germany facilities on 80 acres of land at PMT. When it’s complete, he will staff and operate it.

“Our monopiles are five-inch-thick rolled steel cylinders,” he explained. “Comparable in size to the Saturn rocket that sent the astronauts to the moon, a monopile can weigh as much as 5 million pounds each. The final assembly building, currently under construction, is larger than a football field and requires a four-foot-thick solid concrete floor to take the weight.”

Site prep for the 500,000 square foot building complex is well underway. Concrete foundations will be poured this Spring. Construction of the steel frames, roof, and skin is scheduled throughout the Summer—installation of mechanicals throughout next fall. The facility is planned for operations by 2023 to deliver monopiles for Orsted’s 1,100 MW project off the coast of Atlantic City, New Jersey.

The factory construction will create hundreds of union construction jobs and when in full operation, will employ hundreds of workers from welders to accountants.

Building a monopile is similar to building a ship. Massively powerful machines roll the long slabs of steel into rings. The rings are joined together to make the massive pipe. The portion of the monopile exposed to seawater is sandblasted and given three coats of epoxy paint for protection.

Initially, the rolled steel rings will be imported as the Paulsboro plant ramps to full capabilities. The company will rely on both domestic and foreign steel predicated on quality, price, and availability.

The 2,500-ton monopiles are moved horizontally onto barges by multi-wheeled heavy-lift carriers, barged out to the ocean construction site, and driven 100 to 150 feet into the ocean floor.

While construction of the turbine farms is a summer job, building the monopiles is a year-round job. EEW will manufacture about 100 monopiles a year, store them on open land until deployed in the Summer.

EEW and New Jersey are strategically located to service the entire Atlantic Coast offshore wind industry and expect to be producing monopiles for decades to come.

Want to know more? View the Southern New Jersey Economic Development Council’s roundtable discussion here.

New York Times article discussion here

SJPC’s Camden terminals had their busiest day in recent memory, loading out 235 trucks on March 8. Thank you to our employees and customers in collaborating to make this happen during this unprecedented import surge!

Governor Phil Murphy’s administration is awarding $6.6 million to the South Jersey Port Corporation to support its on-going efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, operate more efficiently and be a better neighbor.

It’s all part of the Governor’s $100 million initiative to reverse the scourge of climate change by turning to clean energy alternatives and by 2050 to make New Jersey fully powered by clean energy.

The Governor is funding his initiative by leveraging proceeds from the state’s re-entry into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) and money from the Volkswagen Mitigation Trust Fund.

With this $6.6 million investment, the SJPC will replace 23 pieces of older gasoline and diesel forklifts and cargo handling equipment with new electric-powered units and associated charging stations. SJPC aims to systematically convert all of its energy-consuming assets to zero-carbon within the next decade as suitable replacement equipment becomes commercially available.

“Our prime mission is the creation of family-sustaining jobs by attracting cargo through international maritime trade,” said SJPC CEO Andrew Saporito. “But as Governor Murphy warns us, there will be no jobs if we destroy our planet and communities in the process. Jobs are inextricably connected to how we protect our environment and shrink our carbon footprint to zero. We strive to make our operations cleaner and greener while also building the green economy on initiatives such as off-shore wind development.”

From steps as simple as planting trees in its host cities to beautify the neighborhoods while capturing pollutants and stormwater to switching out warehouse lighting from incandescent fixtures to LED lights and investing millions in improving direct ship to rail access, the South Jersey Port has been working aggressively to reduce its carbon footprint. Instead of retrofitting its vehicles – it now can afford to start converting its fleet from carbon fuels to electric.

The SJPC has become the cornerstone of New Jersey’s growing Green Energy Economy. Its unparalleled location combined with available land and warehouse space and an integrated network of highway, rail, and marine facilities provide the needed infrastructure to support offshore wind energy investments along the East Coast. Paulsboro Marine Terminal has already emerged as the prime manufacturing site for offshore wind turbine farms.

“Like our mission, this grant received the strong support from our partners in the state Legislature especially Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Senator Nilsa Cruz-Perez and Assembly members John Burzichelli, Adam Taliaferro, Bill Spearman, and Bill Moen,” said Saporito.

Combined with being at the epicenter of the offshore wind movement in New Jersey, this grant award puts SJPC at the forefront of the clean energy movement. The Port is a prime example of how green energy can translate into good-paying union jobs.

Implicit in these new grants is SJPC’s commitment to sustainability and being a better neighbor.

“Camden Mayor Frank Moran, who supported this grant opportunity for SJPC, has been a great partner in our efforts to grow jobs and reduce our carbon footprint at our Camden facilities,” Saporito added. “As we work to build new jobs, we remain steadfast in our commitment to creating more sustainable port operations and we appreciate the Mayor’s support of these initiatives and we thank him and his administration”