Two new resin shipping centers on the Texas coast appear to have fared well during Hurricane Harvey.
A Plantgistix facility and one under construction by Ravago Americas also on the Gulf Coast were unharmed, according to representatives of those firms. The storm hit the region Aug. 25, bringing with it heavy flooding and shutting down most resin production in the region. Both facilites were built to handle new resin capacity in the area.
"Our Baytown site wasn't directed effected by Harvey at all," Plantgistix CEO Marc Levine said in an email to Plastics News. "The warehouse, pack-out, resin, storage and railcars are all high and dry."
He added that Rail Logix LLC — the firm's onsite rail provider — was back up a few days after the storm, and that Union Pacific was able to access the site starting Sept. 9.
"We're ready to rock and roll," Levine said. "All we need is the ethylene and polyethylene plants to start producing and shipping again."
Houston-based Plantgistix earlier this year opened a new 330,000-square-foot resin packaging plant in Baytown, Texas. A new packaging line there is able to move resin from hopper cars into bags in less than 90 minutes.
Orlando, Fla.-based Ravago Americas also is building a new resin shipping center in Baytown. The site wasn't damaged by the storm and will be ready to accept material in mid-to-late September, president Jim Duffy said in an email.
Ravago bought 200 acres in the Alvin area late last year. The new site will be able to handle more than 2 billion pounds of plastic resin annually.
