PhilaPort Breaks Ground on New On-Dock Forest Products Warehouse

Tioga Marine Terminal Makes Space for New Customers

Philadelphia, September 11, 2019 —

PhilaPort recently broke ground on a new $12 million warehouse at its Tioga Marine Terminal (TMT). The 100,000 sq. ft. on-dock warehouse will have unique features which will facilitate the use and handling of forest products. Several of the features include indoor rail loading for ten rail cars and truck loading docks, clear span staging areas with extra high ceilings. “One of PhilaPort’s strengths has always been forest products”, said Jeff Theobald, PhilaPort Executive Director & CEO. “This new warehouse will help us attract new forest products business which already exceeds over a million tons a year.”

For over 40 years, the Port of Philadelphia has been a leader in the handling of forest products. Those range from lumber, wood, moldings, high-grade paper for packaging and wood pulp used in a variety of tissue products. “This new warehouse cannot be built quick enough”, said Robert Palaima, President of Delaware River Stevedores, Tioga Marine Terminal’s operator. “We have had to turn customers away because we simply did not have the space.” Since 2014, TMT has handled wood pulp from Brazil.  The pulp is destined for U.S. manufacturing in Pennsylvania and throughout the U.S. Northeast.

The new warehouse construction, which includes extensive rail improvements, will be complete by the end of the first quarter of 2020.

Rendering of new warehouse at Tioga Marine Terminal.

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PhilaPort, The Port of Philadelphia, is an independent agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania charged with the management, maintenance, marketing and promotion of publicly-owned port facilities along the Delaware River in Philadelphia, as well as strategic planning throughout the port district.  PhilaPort works with its terminal operators to modernize, expand and improve its facilities, and to market those facilities to prospect port users.  Port cargoes and the activities they generate are responsible for thousands of direct and indirect jobs in the Philadelphia area and throughout Pennsylvania.