Green Plains Inc. and Jefferson Energy Companies, a subsidiary of Fortress Transportation and Infrastructure Investors LLC, today announced that their joint venture, JGP Energy Partners, loaded its first vessel with nearly 3 million gallons of ethanol destined for Brazil. The joint venture is currently loading its second shipment of 10 million gallons of ethanol on a vessel bound for India.
“This state-of-the-art terminal aligns with our strategy to grow our downstream distribution capabilities and optimize our logistics platform,” said Todd Becker, president and chief executive officer of Green Plains. “We can now provide an end-to-end solution, from production to delivery, for our customers worldwide at one of the most efficient export loading facilities for ethanol that exists in the marketplace today. In addition, we can now service domestic demand because of our access to three Class I railroads, inbound/outbound barges and trucks, and better locational advantages due to fewer weather and incident-related delays than competing terminals.”
“We are excited to commence operations with our partner, one of the largest ethanol producers and traders in North America,” said Greg Binion, president and chief executive officer of Jefferson. “The joint venture created infrastructure at Jefferson Beaumont to distribute ethanol to worldwide markets. Green Plains Trade Group will be a customer of the terminal, which is designed to serve multiple ethanol export customers with differing specification requirements. The terminal’s multimodal capabilities and sustainable cost-advantaged logistics will contribute to the success of this joint venture.”
The newly constructed $50 million export and import fuels terminal has direct mainline service with the Union Pacific, BNSF and KCS railroads, and can simultaneously receive and unload two ethanol unit trains at high flow rates of 7,000 barrels per hour. The terminal currently features four storage tanks with a working capacity of 550 thousand barrels designed to quickly change between various export grades and domestic specifications. The terminal also includes two truck loading bays that can throughput 20,000 barrels per day, a barge loading dock capable of loading 5,000 barrels per hour on inland and offshore barges, and a vessel dock capable of loading up to 10,000 barrels per hour on Aframax-size chemical tankers and medium range vessels.
“The completion of this project solidifies our position as a preferred supplier able to offer our customers product when they want it, where they want it, and how they want it as exports continue to grow over the next several years from the U.S.,” added Becker.
The joint venture leveraged the existing infrastructure at Jefferson’s Beaumont, Texas terminal and completed construction under budget in less than 12 months. Green Plains plans to offer its interest in the joint venture to its master limited partnership, Green Plains Partners LP (NASDAQ:GPP), during the first half of 2018.
