New markets open with Taiwan at Port Mac

PORT MACKENZIE -- Late this week, a ship will dock at Port MacKenzie, and load its hull with wood chip exports bound for Taiwan from the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. The ship's arrival signals Port Mac's expanding market in Asia. Taiwan is the third country now doing business at the Port.

Later this summer, a second ship, hired by a Taiwanese company, will pull dockside and offload the first imports at the Port: Super Sacks of cement.

The MAT-SU Borough is hosting a ceremony to highlight the arrival of the ship from Taiwan on Monday, July 23, at 2 p.m. at Port MacKenzie's new ferry terminal.

Through incremental steps, Port MacKenzie is attracting new business and more multi-year contracts. Port MacKenzie's deep draft dock requires no dredging and can serve the world's largest ships. A conveyor loads bulk exports up to 2,000 tons per hour and runs more than a half mile to the uplands. The port's 8,940 upland acres and 1,300 tideland acres provide ample room for commercial and industrial development. The coming expansion of infrastructure will enable more new businesses to take off.

The Port's anchor tenant, NPI, LLC, secured the two Taiwanese contracts. "I traveled from Qingdao to Hong Kong and met with many different companies to find the right business partners," said NPI's Ron Arvin. "Through TATICC we found the right ones."

TATICC is the state's Taiwan-Alaska Trade & Investment Cooperation Council. The bilateral group promotes Alaska government and Alaska business people meeting with Taiwanese government and business people. Since 2004, multiple trade missions have put dealmakers together. By participating, Arvin found buyers of birch wood chips and sellers of cement.

The cement will be a different sort of cement import. The Super Sacks, each weighing 1.5 metric tons, are packaged bulk. NPI is planning to import up to 20,000 metric tons a year.

Borough Mayor Curt Menard sees the potential in the Port. "The new business with Taiwan is a great example of local, state, and the private sector working together," Menard said.

This new trade route to Taiwan will add revenue to the Port by contributing to wharfage and dockage fees. It is but a fraction of the possible diversification that will come with the proposed rail line to the Port.

In the last legislative session $10 million was approved for environmental studies for a 43-mile rail line from the Port to the Alaska Railroad's mainline.

With the rail connection it will be much more efficient to transport bulk materials from and to the Interior. The new rail line could promote development of strategic minerals such as fuel, molybdenum, zinc, copper and lead, as well as limestone excavation that could lead to a vital new industry, cement manufacturing. That's a desirable product given that our nation imports most of its cement.

"We're excited about the rail going to the Port," Arvin said. "NPI will be one of the biggest users of the rail once it's installed."

More infrastructure expansion is coming down the pike. A new ferry terminal, soon to open, holds office space for lease. A design to expand the deep-draft dock surface and to add a second trestle to the expanded barge dock is currently being drafted. A federal permit to expand the barge dock by 7.86 acres has already been approved. The 14-miles of gravel road to the Port are expected to be paved by late next summer, making access to Port MacKenzie smoother and quicker.

For more information on the reception for the Taiwanese business, call Patty Sullivan, public affairs director, at (907) 745-9577 or Port Director Marc Van Dongen at (907) 746-7414.