HARLINGEN, Texas - One of the main points the Port of Harllingen Director, Walker Smith, tried to get across to state lawmakers is, investing in water ports is a shrewd investment.
Smith gave an in-depth keynote presentation at a recent South Texas Manufacturers Association meeting held at the Harlingen Convention Center.
“One of the things that we really tried to push this past year at the legislative session was this number right here: for every dollar investment the State makes in Texas ports, $53.03 six cents is returned back to the State of Texas,” Smith said. “So, any investment that you do into a water port, your investment is turned back significantly. So, that’s a big plus, when you invest into your ports.”
Smith pointed out that the state invested $650 million dollars in Texas water ports in 2023. He said the funding, to boost infrastructure projects, was a one-off, first time ever, investment.
Investing in water ports is also good for the environment, Smith said. Every barge means 16 less railcars and 70 less trucks on the road, he explained.
As for the Port of Harlingen’s economic impact, 25,224 jobs are supported by cargo movement, Smith said. Of these, 966 are direct, 1,225 induced, 216 indirect, and 22,817 related. He said this information is based on a 2023 economic impact statement study by Martin & Associates.
The Port of Harlingen solely handles shallow draft barge transport. Smith said the port is not looking to expand because of its proximity to neighboring communities. He said its ship channel will not get deepened either - it will always handle shallow draft barge transport.
The port has five docks, three liquid and two dry docks. Among the products moved through the port are pipelines for the big liquefied natural gas export terminals being built at the Port of Brownsville, Smith said.
In times of geographical size, the port covers 2,500 acres. Of this, 800 acres are available for lease, Smith said. Its rail line is serviced by Union Pacific, Burlington Northern Sante Fe and Kansas Southern.
Smith said the port operates through three main sources of funding: operating revenue, non-operating revenue, and tax revenue. In fiscal year 23-24, port funding equaled $4.8 million.
As for commodities and tonnage, the Port of Harlingen relies heavily on fuel exports to Mexico, Smith said. The three main operators being mainly Titan Fuel, Key Petrol and Sunoco.
“There is a huge need for fuel in Mexico because they do not have the ability to meet their demand,” Smith said. "About 1.8 million tons of fuel moves through the port."
The port is also important for sand aggregates used in the production of concrete. Last year, 323,000 tons of sand was moved through the port, representing a 120 percent increase. He said the increase was due to SpaceX, LNG and other big infrastructure projects.
The port is also important for agricultural products and fertilizers, Smith said. It has two cotton gins and used to have a warehouse for sugar. However, that was no longer needed when RGV Sugar Growers ceased operating. “They were a big contributor to our activities,” Smith lamented.
“In FY 23-24, the Port of Harlingen experienced 2.26 million tons of commodities moving across our docks, roads and rail. Of this, 81 percent was fuel, and 14 percent aggregates,” Smith said.
He said the Port of Harlingen is looking to diversify its operations. One of the slides Smith displayed showed a dip in the volume of fuel moving through the port.
“There tends to always be issues in crossing cargo to Mexico from here,” Smith said, pointing to the slide. “During this time here, we ended up with the State of Texas and DPS, because of all the Mexican operators that were coming into the Port of Harlingen. They felt like there were some nefarious activities happening. It didn't help that we did have some guys moving crude out of Mexico six miles down the channel. We kind of got guilt by association with that, we got caught up in that. But we have worked through that. And I expect you will see this tonnage here get back to this range in the next two to three years with some of the advances we are seeing in security.”
Smith also spoke about the infrastructure investments being made at the port, referencing the Texas Department of Transportation Seaport Connectivity Program, a roadway illumination safety project, upgrades to the drainage ditch along the interior portion of Port Road to dissipate road erosion, and rail yard development.
“We are looking to install about 14,500 of new track," Smith said. "We have got about 3,700 feet. That was in our SWOT analysis. In our strategic plan, that was one of the weaknesses we had. We are addressing that with estimated of about $30 million for the 14,500 feet track.”
Smith had started his presentation by pointing out how far the port has come in the nine years he has been port director. He said when he was introduced as port director back in 2014, many people did not even know there was a water port in Harlingen. He said this included a lady who was born and raised in the city and who worked for a local newspaper.
“Nobody really knew anything about the port," Smith said. "It is something I wanted to work on. We are definitely a regional transportation hub. We provide services throughout the Rio Grande Valley. If you put gasoline in your car this morning, most likely it came through the Port of Harlingen.”
