Port of Kalama Comprehensive Plan

Port of Kalama Comprehensive Plan 

June 1, 2015 

 

Page 25 

Chapter Three 

-

 Demand Assessment

 

The following chapter evaluates the demand for a variety of facilities under consideration, 

including: 



 

Marine Terminals 



 

Industrial Development 



 

Commercial, Retail and related uses 



 

Recreational and Public Access 

Marine Terminals

 

The Port of Kalama currently has a number of marine terminals, including two grain 

elevators, a general cargo dock, barge dock, and liquid bulk facility.  The grain elevators include 

the TEMCO elevator, which is leased from the Port, and Kalama Export Company LLC, which 

was originally owned by the Peavey Grain Company and sits on land purchased from the Port.  

The North Port Marine Terminal is a general cargo facility located north of the Kalama River.  

This facility currently is used for importing steel coil and other products for use in the adjacent 

Steelscape finishing mill, which is located on Port property. 

Two other terminals are located at the Port of Kalama.  One of these is a barge berth owned 

by the Port and used by RSG Forest Products / Gram Lumber to ship lumber on ocean-going 

barges.  Immediately downstream from the RSG facility is a deep-draft wharf owned by 

Emerald Kalama Chemical LLC, which is used to receive toluene for the adjacent chemical 

plant. 

The Port of Kalama has excellent connections to the water, rail, and road transportation 

systems.  The marine facilities are located on the Columbia River Navigation Channel, 

approximately 72 miles from the Pacific Ocean.  Rail service is provided by both the Union 

Pacific Railroad (UP) and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF).  The BNSF 

mainline, over which UP operates via trackage rights, sits adjacent to the Port’s marine facilities.  

Interstate 5 also runs adjacent to the Port’s facilities, with three sets of on- and off-ramps in each 

direction offering easy access to the Port.  This access to the transportation system is accurately 

reflected in the Port's slogan "where highway, rail, and water meet." 

Marine Cargo Trends 

The deep draft ports in the Lower Columbia River have seen sustained growth in cargo 

volumes over the past five decades.  From 1962 through 2012 (the last year for which data on 

domestic movements is available), waterborne cargo volumes on domestic and international 

routes grew at a compound annual growth rate of 2.7 percent. 

International trade grew the most rapidly, with imports and exports averaging 4.2 percent 

and 3.7 percent annual growth, respectively.  Imports consist primarily of consumer products 

(containerized products), automobiles, and dry bulks for agriculture, construction and other 

regional industries.  Exports include agricultural products and forest products that are 

produced in the Pacific Northwest, as well as exports from inland U.S. and Canadian producers 

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Port of Kalama Comprehensive Plan 

June 1, 2015 

 

Page 26 

(including grain, oil seeds, soda ash, potash and bentonite clay among other commodities).  (See 

Figure 12) 

Coastwise trade primarily consists of receipts of petroleum products from domestic refiners 

in Washington State and California, and shipments of forest products and manufactured goods 

to Hawaii and other U.S. coastal locations.  Between 1962 and 2007 coastwise trade remained 

relatively stable, but after 2008 the volume of coastwise trade declined somewhat. 

Figure 12 - Lower Columbia River Marine Cargo Trends (1,000 metric tons) 

 

Source:  US Army Corps of Engineers Waterborne Commerce Statistics 

Opportunities for growth exist for a variety of marine terminal types on the Lower 

Columbia River, including: 



 

Grain Terminals 



 

Dry Bulk Terminals 



 

Neo-Bulk and Breakbulk Terminals 



 

Liquid Bulk Terminals 



 

Container Terminals 

The outlook for each of these types of facilities is examined in the following section.   

Grain Terminals 

Overview 

Grain terminals handle a variety of grains, oilseeds, and related products.  These include 

wheat, corn, barley, soybeans, grain sorghum and some animal feeds such as beet pulp pellets. 

Wheat is primarily used for human consumption, as opposed to the coarse grains (corn, 

barley, sorghum), which are primarily used as animal feed.  Demand for human food is less 

affected by changes in personal income than demand for animal feed, but currency exchange 

rates do have a strong impact on wheat sales.  Competition for wheat exports is intense, 

particularly with Canada and Australia, among other countries. 

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

40,000

45,000

1962

1964

1966

1968

1970

1972

1974

1976

1978

1980

1982

1984

1986

1988

1990

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

Metric To

ns 

(1,000

’s)

Coastwise Shipments

Coastwise Receipts

Foreign Imports

Foreign Exports

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