Splash247: Baltimore adds on-dock grain export gateway

Published by Splash247

The US Port of Baltimore has opened an on-dock grain transloading facility at its Seagirt container terminal, cutting out an offsite container stuffing step and lowering handling and transport costs for agricultural exporters.

The four-acre facility, developed by Ports America Chesapeake and Frey Commodities, has three silos with combined storage capacity of 60,000 bushels and can load more than 200 containers a week.

Until now, grain moving through Baltimore had to be loaded into empty containers away from the port before being trucked to Seagirt. The new operation allows farm trucks to deliver grain directly to the terminal, where a conveyor system transfers it into silos before it is loaded into export containers.

Ports America Chesapeake will operate the facility exclusively for Frey Commodities. Shortline rail connections to CSX and Norfolk Southern extend its catchment beyond Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania into the US Midwest.

The partners are targeting grain exports to Europe, Asia and South America, with the new setup reducing truck movements and giving producers a more direct route into Baltimore’s container network.