Page 19 - Port of Baltimore Magazine July August 2011

July/August 2011 ■ The Port of Baltimore [17]
said David Chenowith, Managing Director of T.
Parker Host of Maryland. He added that his agency
has evolved to provide more and more logistics
management services, utilizing items such as
Sharepoint, a proprietary Internet-based customer
service program tailored to individual needs.
“Using Sharepoint, as an example, a customer
can securely access the documentation and location
of their shipment at any time, independently and
completely private,” said Chenowith.
CNX is owned by CONSOL Energy, the largest
coal producer east of the Mississippi. The facility
is planning to increase throughput from 12 to 14
million tons annually, according to Bob Pusitari,
CONSOL’s Executive Vice President of Sales and
Marketing. Pusitari said that another significant
expansion is possible after that. “In 2009, we
entered into a partnership with Xcoal, a coal
marketing firm,” he explained. “With them, we
opened five offices in Asia to find buyers for
CONSOL’s metallurgical coal blends.”
Xcoal, based in Latrobe, Pa., is the type of
nimble, entrepreneurial small business that is a
perfect partner for a large, deeply rooted company
like CONSOL, according to CNX’s Marsh. Xcoal has
helped CONSOL market its Pittsburgh Seam #8
to Asia. The terminal in Baltimore creates blends
continue for the rest of this year.”
The coalfields from Western Pennsylvania
through Virginia have supplied fuel for steel
making and energy since the 1800s. The earliest
railroad line in America, the B&O Old Main Line,
carries the very same cargo as it did in the 19th
century but the distance from the mine to the
marketplace has expanded significantly.
“China has been a game changer in the
coal market,” noted CNX’s Marsh. “They have
gone from being a net exporter of coal to a net
importer.” Additionally, production from one of the
world’s other major suppliers of coal, Australia,
was interrupted by flooding, driving prices up.
Baltimore, with its robust rail service and proximity
to the mines, has stepped up to meet increasing
demand from China, Japan and other Asian
countries for metallurgical coal, which is used in
steel production, as well as thermal coal for the
domestic and European markets.
The Port has responded to this swift uptick in
business with innovation and expansion. T. Parker
Host, an agent specializing in coal shipments, has
added six people to its documentation group to
handle the increased volume and complexity of
the transactions at the Port of Baltimore while also
offering assistance to the port in Virginia.
“We have been in this game since 1925; we
keep our finger on the pulse of this market, and
indicators suggest this robust business has the
ingredients and excellent product to continue on,”
CONSOL Energy’s Baltimore terminal.
of various grades of coal tailored to a customer’s
specific needs.
CNX plans to expand throughput not by
increasing their footprint, but by increasing the
company’s “velocity,” according to Marsh. He
has boosted manpower from 60 to 100 workers.
Rail infrastructure improvements will add a fourth
PHOTO BY JACK HARDWAY
KATHY BERGREN SMITH