LRTC’s expertise is the handling of several types of bulk materials with seamless transition. Many types of cargoes can be handled at the same time to ensure our customers satisfaction. Two vessels can be worked simultaneously either loading or unloading. LRTC prides itself on being flexible and accommodating to ensure that our customers’ needs are met.
LRTC is capable of handling many different types of bulk materials and each opportunity is evaluated to ensure proper handling and space availability. The following bulk materials are handled at the terminal:
Scrap Metal
Scrap metal is exported through LRTC. Sims Metal Management operations are located adjacent to LRTC’s terminal. Scrap is moved to the terminal with large dump trucks and loaded onto vessels with large shore side gantry cranes. Multiple grades of scrap are loaded onto bulk vessels; including heavy melting steel, bales, bushing, bonus grade and shred.
Petroleum Coke
Calcined and green petroleum coke are exported through the terminal. Green petroleum coke is received in rail and truck shipments. Calcined petroleum coke is received in truck shipments. The petroleum coke is loaded onto vessels with a shore side conveyor system and shore side gantry cranes. The petroleum coke is stored in an on-site coke barn and on other sites near the berths.
Coal
Coal is shipped via rail to the terminal for export. Coal is generally shipped in unit train quantities from various mine sites to the terminal and unloaded through the hopper unloading building. Coal is stockpiled until a sufficient amount is available to load the vessel.
Bauxite
Bauxite is imported and discharged with shore side cranes and trucked to a nearby concrete pad for storage. The bauxite is shipped via rail and truck to cement plants throughout the West Coast for use in cement production.
Granulated Blast Furnace Slag
Granulated blast furnace slag is imported from Asia for use in cement production. Like bauxite it is unloaded, stockpiled and shipped to cement companies in California.
Other Potential Bulk Materials
Several other bulk materials have been handled through the terminal. These include iron ore, cement, cotton seed, gypsum, sand, aggregates, manganese ores, chrome ores, and woodchips.
Recycling and Beyond
The founding owners of LRTC learned the value of recycling long before it became an environmental trend. After WWII Levin Metals Corporation (LMC) helped meet the demands of a growing economy by recycling scrap metal instead of digging and smelting ore. Since then about half of the steel produced in this country has been recycled. Steel is now North America’s number 1 recycled product. Each year more steel is recycled than aluminum, paper, glass and plastic combined.
Today, LRTC also helps industry find markets and uses for by-products that might otherwise become waste, making productive use of what would otherwise go to landfills.
Petroleum coke is a by-product of petroleum refining. LRTC provides an efficient way to transfer and ship this by-product to foreign markets. Calcined petroleum coke can be used in the manufacture of anodes for processing aluminum and titanium, and other industrial products. Green petroleum coke is also a clean and efficient energy source for cement, steel, and power plants.
LRTC also handles granulated blast furnace slag, a by-product of the iron and steel industry. Ground granulated blast furnace slag is combined with Portland cement to make high-performance concrete. Slag cement is one of the most sustainable construction materials available.