The Port of Indiana-Mount Vernon handled 735,000 tons of cargo in December, which was the highest ever single-month total at any of Indiana's three ports, and also produced the highest fourth-quarter shipments by any port in Ports of Indiana history.
December's results were 31 percent higher than the previous single-month record set in 1993 and the port's fourth quarter shipments broke its own quarterly record established in 2013. The port finished 2014 with 4.85 million tons, up 17 percent from 2013 and the highest annual total since 1994. Coal, grain, ethanol, dried distiller grains (DDG) and steel were the dominant cargoes in 2014.
"Mount Vernon ranks as the seventh largest port on the Inland Waterways System and it serves as a major multimodal hub for this region of our state as well as Southeast Illinois and Western Kentucky," said Rich Cooper, CEO for the Ports of Indiana.
"Companies at this port ship cargoes to and from 44 states and 25 different countries. With this kind of reach, it clearly demonstrates the impact port companies and users in the southwestern part of our state have on the regional, national and global economy."
Valero Renewable Fuels Co.'s acquisition of the ethanol plant located within the port continues to positively influence ethanol and DDG volumes. Valero Renewables is a subsidiary of Valero Energy Corp., the 10th largest Fortune 500 Company in the U.S.
Other port companies contributing significant increases in 2014 cargoes included Alliance Coal's Mount Vernon Transfer Terminal, Consolidated Grain and Barge's grain merchandising and soybean processing divisions and Consolidated Terminals and Logistics Co. handling steel through the port's general cargo terminal.
"We have a tremendous group of port companies that are recognized as industry leaders," said Port Director Phil Wilzbacher. "With coal shipments surging in December, Mount Vernon Transfer Terminal employees were put to the test and responded admirably, sometimes unloading two unit trains a day and setting a new record for its December tonnage. Back-to-back record corn and soybean harvests in 2013 and 2014 kept Consolidated Grain and Barge extremely busy throughout the year but the CGB employees proved they could handle the challenge and did an exceptional job ending the year with an all-time high for grain-related shipments."
The port handled approximately 2,500 barges, 130,000 trucks and 25,000 railcars in 2014. Located in Southwest Indiana near Evansville, the state's third largest city, and the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, the port connects the Midwest to the world with year-round access to the Gulf of Mexico and Great Lakes through the Inland Waterway System. Barges shipped to and from the port can be transloaded with ocean vessels in the Gulf for global shipments. Rail service offers potential connections to five Class I railroads and access to interstates I-64 and I-69 is available via Indiana 62 and 69. The port recently expanded and now has 600 acres available for development.
