We couldn’t be more excited to announce the launch of our new wholly owned subsidiary, B.L. Duke River Terminal. Our new division will focus on stevedoring services with both indoor and outdoor storage. It gives us the ability to transload finished steel product, including coils, bar stock, rebar, wire, and structural steel, to rail or truck from barges coming from mills along the river systems and imports. According to this week’s AMM article, B.L. Duke adds steel terminal services, with trucking rates and availability becoming increasingly inhibitive, B.L. Duke will continue to grow it’s barge and rail services not only as a means to control our own logistics costs but now as a diversification strategy and new revenue source.
“We’re always looking for new ways to strengthen our services and improve cost-savings for our customers,” said Lou Plucinski, B.L. Duke’s President & CEO. “This expansion allows us to help link mills with our customers and suppliers and illustrates just one more way we’re revolutionizing the recycling industry.”
B.L. Duke River Terminal will be housed on our recently acquired site of the former Gerdau Rolling Mill property at 1 Industry Avenue, Joliet, Illinois. The property is conveniently located adjacent to our Scrap Metal processing facility in Joliet, equipped with barge and rail terminals. With 30.5 acres and a 250,000 square foot warehouse, this will nearly double our footprint to almost 64 acres. The new location is significantly closer to Chicagoland’s industrial areas compared to Indiana ports. In addition, the new site is in close proximity to several major highways and rail terminals, including I-55, I-80, and I-355.
“With trucking rates and availability becoming increasingly inhibitive, we will continue to grow our barge and rail services not only as a means to control our own logistics costs but now as a diversification strategy and new revenue source,” said Plucinski.
The new division comes after our continued growth and success in 2017. Last year, we increased our sales revenue by 65% and added 32 employees to our team. We were even named a finalist for the 2018 American Metal Market’s Steel Excellence Award in the Scrap Company of the Year category!
“You can bet that we have even more plans in store for 2018. We’re excited to expand our scrap-metal processing capabilities and strengthen our relationships with both mills and our customer base,” said Plucinski.
Contact us today at [email protected] to find out how B.L. Duke River Terminal can help transload and store your finished goods!