PORTAGE, INDIANA, US — Ports of Indiana, the agency that operates Indiana’s public ports, is seeking potential operators for the international ag shipping terminal at Burns Harbor in Portage, Indiana, US. Cargill has operated the terminal since 1979, but earlier this year said it was changing its business model and would relinquish the facility to the port as of June 1.

The elevator handled soybeans, corn and wheat on Lake Michigan with a storage capacity of 7.768 million bushels, according to Sosland Publishing’s 2023 Grain & Milling Annual.

According to Ports of Indiana, the terminal can handle ocean vessels transiting the Great Lakes, 1,000-foot lake vessels, year-round barge traffic via the inland river system and unit trains from nearly all Class 1 railroads. The terminal has high-speed loading capacities that can load 90,000 bushels per hour into an ocean vessel and unload 30,000 bushels per hour from a unit train, Ports of Indiana said.

“It’s the end of an era and a new beginning for one of the largest international ag terminals on the Great Lakes,” said Ryan McCoy, port director for Ports of Indiana-Burns Harbor. “It’s bittersweet for me because I worked at that facility for 10 years and Cargill has been a great partner for the Ports of Indiana and the local community. However, this change also creates a unique opportunity to reimagine the facility and expand its capabilities going forward.”

Ports of Indiana said it is accepting input from interested companies through April 21, with plans to issue a formal request for proposals in May to all qualified companies.

“We’re excited about the next chapter for this terminal,” McCoy said. “We have received multiple inquiries from companies interested in expanding the facility. This is a unique deep-water terminal with tremendous capabilities for shipping grain, DDGs and many bulk cargoes to and from ocean vessels at the Heartland of America. It’s not every day that this type of facility becomes available.”

The Burns Harbor port opened in 1970, is home to more than 30 companies, and handles approximately 3 million tons of cargo per year. Currently, the port is developing a $32 million facilities expansion funded by two federal grants that includes construction of two rail yards, new bulk and general cargo terminals, a bulk warehouse, and a truck marshalling yard. The port complex contributes $5.2 billion per year to the Indiana economy and supports more than 30,000 jobs, according to Ports of Indiana.