Sources: McInnis Cement, Montreal; CP staff
A $500 million private capital refinancing positions McInnis Cement to continue ramping up terminal and rail distribution infrastructure throughout the Northeast. Outlays for 2019-20 adhere a market development plan attending the producer’s 2017 dedication of a 2 million-plus ton/year greenfield plant on the eastern reaches of Quebec.
In the U.S., a capital infusion will support a doubling of loading capacity at the Bronx Terminal, which opened in 2018 to serve metro New York and New Jersey customers and now has a second truck lane in operation. A 40,000-metric-ton (mt) warehouse is currently under construction at McInnis Cement’s Providence (R.I.) Terminal, bringing the total storage capacity to 75,000 mt; a new truck lane will be added in time for the 2020 construction season. Management anticipates further development of cement storage and transfer infrastructure, along with satellite terminals in the northeastern United States.
McInnis is also adding two cement silos at its Port-Daniel–Gascons operation, which opened with four such vessels feeding a marine terminal along a Gulf of St. Lawrence inlet. The producer recently confirmed the charter of the NACC New Yorker, a 24,000-mt self-unloading vessel; it joins the NACC Quebec (14,000 mt), Cielo di Gaspesie (35,000 mt), and Resolute unloading craft. Augmenting the ocean fleet and contributing to McInnis’ charter value proposition—building terminals at U.S. and Canadian market points maximizing bulk tanker traffic reduction—will be a rail yard that the Port-Daniel–Gascons engineering team plans to time with reopening of a railway serving the site. Loadout infrastructure and new market development suggest annual cement-by-rail volume exceeding 150,000 mt.
“We offer high quality cement, along with exceptional customer service and efficient distribution facilities. These investments will better position McInnis Cement to meet increased demand from our customers,” says CEO Jean Moreau. “With partners and investors’ support, we have all the tools to continue our momentum.”
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