OMAHA, NEBRASKA, US — Union Pacific, a US transportation company, has begun to build a grain transload facility within its Global IV intermodal terminal in Joliet, Illinois, US.

The facility is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2021 and once operational the terminal will have the capacity to process 50,000 intermodal marine containers per year.

The Union Pacific Global IV Transload facility will be managed by JCT, which is a 50/50 joint venture between Consolidated Grain and Barge Co. and Gavilon Grain, LLC.

“This facility will support the regional agriculture economy by providing reduced supply-chain costs and efficient loading support for exporting grain products, whole grains and oilseeds,” said Kari Kirchhoefer, vice president of Union Pacific – marketing and sales premium. “By co-locating on site at G4, we create greater efficiencies within the supply chain.”

Union Pacific Global IV Transload will be open to all Midwest agricultural producers and processors to both empty containers and Union Pacific’s West Coast port terminal network. Regional producers and processors will be able to transport their product by truck to Global IV, where it will be transloaded into intermodal marine containers for shipment by rail to West Coast ports, then loaded onto ocean carriers and shipped to overseas markets.

Union Pacific Railroad connects 23 states in the western two-thirds of the United States by rail. In the last 10 years, 2010-19, Union Pacific invested approximately $35 billion in its network and operations to support the US transportation infrastructure. The railroad's business includes its bulk, industrial and Premium business groups. It operates from all major West Coast and Gulf Coast ports to eastern gateways, connects with Canada’s rail systems and is the only railroad serving all six major Mexico gateways.

Consolidated Grain and Barge Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of CGB Enterprises, Inc., is headquartered in Covington, Louisiana, US, and operates a network of grain facilities across the Midwest. In addition to grain facilities, CGB Enterprises, Inc. has operations in logistics and transportation (CTLC), agri-finance (AGRIfinancial Services), soybean processing, producer risk management, and other related businesses.

The Gavilon Group, LLC provides origination, storage and handling, transportation and logistics, marketing and distribution, and risk management services to agricultural customers and suppliers across the globe.