Motiva Enterprises LLC, a refining operation owned by Shell Oil Company and the affiliates, and Norfolk Southern Corp. announced the opening of the newly expanded ethanol terminal at Motiva’s petroleum distribution terminal in Sewaren, N.J., in early February, effectively doubling capacity for the rail-served terminal. A grand opening ceremony is planned for mid-April.

The facility is set to unload 40 railcars per day, as opposed to 23 cars per day previously. The terminal formerly moved 1 million gallons of fuel ethanol daily, with the expansion boosting capacity to over 2 million gallons per day. In 2004, Norfolk Southern reportedly transported more than 160 million gallons of ethanol through the New York Harbor via the Sewaren terminal.

Norfolk Southern reported that expansion efforts were led by its agriculture, fertilizer and consumer products marketing group, and the company’s transportation and industrial development departments. Additionally, Norfolk Southern’s Modalgistics Supply Chain Solutions and Motiva collaborated on the development of network visibility tools, which helped the Sewaren staff in labor, inventory planning and equipment issues.

“We are proud of the relationship we have developed with Motiva Enterprises,” said Tom Brugman, Norfolk Southern group vice president of agriculture, fertilizer and consumer products.

“Motiva Distribution has developed a safe, efficient and reliable logistics infrastructure system at the Sewaren plant to serve the needs of our customers,” said Dan Grinstead, Motiva Enterprises’ director of business development. “These accomplishments are attributable to the efforts of our people at Sewaren, the cooperation of the railroads and, most importantly, the relationship that we share with our customers.”

Most of the ethanol delivered to the Northeast arrives by barge to various ports up and down the coast. The expanded rail-served terminal is an important conduit in delivering Midwest-produced ethanol to the rapidly emerging Northeastern market.
-Staff Report