Each year, millions of tons of cargo move through the Port of Corpus Christi, leaving or landing on industry-laden shores that many residents have only glimpsed as they pass over Harbor Bridge.
Some refer to the port as the heart of the regional economy -- the underpinnings of a community that thrives on its geographic location on the Gulf of Mexico.
While the tankers and barges that service the area's petrochemical industry dominate the ship channel's commerce, efforts are under way to diversify the port's cargo.
In a recent interview, the port's executive director, John LaRue, discussed some of the port's work and his expectations for 1997.
Also this year, a $3.5 million railroad track loop will be constructed that will run alongside the new storage pad, giving customers a more efficient and less expensive way to handle cargo.
Currently, cargo that comes into the bulk terminal must be trucked to a storage location about two miles away, and then loaded onto rail cars for further transport.
Also, as part of the bulk terminal improvements, port officials will consider how to improve vessel docking facilities there, LaRue said. A decision has not been made, but LaRue said the port probably will improve the current dock with the purchase of new unloading equipment instead of building a new dock.
LaRue said he expects this year to see an increase in the commodities handled at the bulk terminal because of the improvements.
Because of the port's proximity to the growing Mexican steel industry in Monterrey and Monclova, it has an opportunity to handle that country's finished steel products destined for overseas markets. On the reverse side, it could handle Mexico's import of raw materials for its steel industry.
Mexican steel currently moves through ports in Brownsville, Tampico and Altamira. Officials at the Port of Corpus Christi think the port can offer better service and lower costs because of its inland transportation links and covered storage areas.
Key to increasing steel cargo at the port is the availability of adequate railcars with covers that would ship the finished steel products out of Mexico, LaRue said. To jumpstart that business, the port has allocated in its 1997 budget $300,000 to build its own railcar covers, LaRue said.
LaRue said the port will continue an effort begun last year to focus on bulk grain rather than bagged goods. Last year's bumper crop in the Midwest helped to mitigate the loss, and other markets could be opened with new rail connections at the port.
"We're working to move (grain) product from Canada and the United States to Mexico," LaRue said. "We're working with Mexican millers to come together and use Corpus Christi as a load center."
In February, Corpus Christi will get a slice of the pie when it serves as the port of entry for German military equipment that will be used in joint war games with the United States in New Mexico.
The equipment, mostly trucks and other ground equipment, will move through Cargo Dock 9, using the port's "roll-on, roll-off" ramp, LaRue said.
LaRue said the experience should help catch the attention of U.S. military decision makers, showing them the capability of the port to handle such large shipments.
Earlier this month, the port handled a shipment of grapefruit from the Rio Grande Valley headed to Europe, breaking ground for potentially more shipments.
"We are optimistic about fruit and we've been moving ahead with plans to develop a refrigerated facility," LaRue said. "My goal would be to have a facility under construction and possibly finished this year."
Besides fruit from the Valley, the port is also working on banana shipments from southern Mexico, apples out of the Pacific Northwest and citrus from California.
The port has been working for about a year on a plan that envisions a cruise line that would originate in Corpus Christi and travel to locations such as Veracruz, Progreso-Merida, Tampico and Cozumel, all along Mexico's Gulf Coast.
Cruise-line executives, who are looking for new products to offer customers, have been receptive to Corpus Christi's discussions, port officials have said. LaRue said that if the cruise industry can be convinced, Corpus Christi could have a cruise ship by 1998.
LaRue estimated the compress handled about 25 percent of its normal business, and the outlook for 1997 depends largely on whether farmers decide to plant cotton or other crops and if the drought continues.
The port will continue to seek designation as a delivery point for the New York Cotton Exchange, a certification that was denied last year. As a delivery point, the port would handle more cotton, and area farmers would have the chance to participate in the cotton futures market.
LaRue said the port believes that it was denied certification through an improper process that involved conflict of interest among the decision makers. He said that in 1997, Texas legislators may join with those in Arizona and California to form a coalition to pursue another hearing on the issue.
The corridor would allow a different route for trucks that travel through residential areas and over the Harbor Bridge to get to industry on the north side. It also would alleviate delays that occur when Tule Lake Lift Bridge is raised to allow ships through. When trucks and rail cars have to wait to cross the bridge, it costs not only time and money, but also contributes to pollution, he said.
In addition, transportation on the north side of the channel would open up large tracts of undeveloped land for potential economic development.
Harbor Island is located north of Port Aransas and has been used for industrial purposes.