Cemex Aggregates (Cemex Construction Materials Pacific, LLC), described by Port of Redwood City Executive Director Michael J. Giari as “a responsible tenant and a productive partner with the Port in the growth of maritime shipping,” is on board for at least another 10 years.
The Port Commission approved a new 10-year-lease with an option to extend the lease for another decade. The lease is for an 8.2 acres marine terminal on Hinman Road.
Cemex Aggregates imports high-quality building materials from Canada, including sand and aggregates, used in Silicon Valley and Redwood City construction projects. Over the past three years Cemex has imported nearly four million metric tons of building materials. Cemex also has the capability to use Port docks for cement import through ship unloaders.
“The high quality of the sand and gravel aggregates from British Columbia combined with the dwindling supply of these materials in Northern California because quarries are unable to expand have triggered and sustained a strong demand that the Port benefitted from,” said Giari.
The constructions aggregates arrive at the Port on ships that contain self-unloading features, operated by Canadian Steamship Lines. Eagle Rock Aggregates is the supplier to Cemex of these construction aggregates. Eagle Rock operates the Orca Quarry, located on the northeast coast of Vancouver Island, BC, which is a very first-rate sand and gravel resource with significant long-term capacities.
The import of these materials by Cemex drives down the costs for construction projects in Redwood City and Silicon Valley.
In Redwood City alone, more than 1,600 new housing units are under construction or have recently been completed. About 1,300 more have been approved or are well through the approval process. The commercial development in Redwood City is exploding as well, with 1,158,000 square-feet of commercial space under construction or recently completed. In addition, a new 177-room hotel is under construction between Highway 101 and the Port of Redwood City.
One of the terms of the new lease is for Cemex Aggregates to relocate a new and/or upgraded hopper and enclosed conveyor system to the Port’s new Wharves 1 & 2 by June 30, 2018.
“Much of the modern global economy depends on sand,” according to a recent article in Economist Magazine. “Most of it pours into the construction industry, where it is used to make concrete and asphalt….no wonder, then, that sand and gravel are the most extracted materials in the world.”
groups of up to 13 children between the ages of 5 and 12 years