Titan to benefit from exports

For many years, Florida has imported vast quantities of foreign cement in order to keep up with the country’s growing construction industry. Ships arrive at Port Everglades and the imported cement is pumped through a special pipeline into large silos close by.

During the real-estate boom, Greek-based Titan Cement bought a southern Florida cement company and doubled production at the plant to meet local demand. However, the recession has caused overproduction at the company’s Medley plant, forcing Titan to cut the plant’s workforce by 100 employees.

Recently, Titan was approached by a company in Panama to supply cement for a hydroelectric dam, to be built in Panama’s jungle. The project would allow Titan to save 15 jobs at the Medley plant by exporting about one month’s production.

The first batch of cement was dispatched from Port Everglades to Panama on 8 December, however, not without difficulty. As the Medley plant is not located near the port, 350 truckloads are needed to transport the 8500 t of cement for export. Once at the port, the trucks hooked up to a hose to pump the cement into the ship. Unfortunately, the pipeline connecting to the storage silos cannot be used. Titan has been working with Port Everglades for a year to organise the operation. It is expected that the port will receive US$ 150 000 from handling 120 000 t of Titan cement over two years.

It is hoped that, during these times of economic hardship in the US, further export opportunities will help save more jobs in the future.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/the-americas/11122009/titan_to_benefit_from_exports/