Port officials back Toyota bid

By Sanford Nowlin

Express-News Business Writer

Web Posted : 01/21/2003 12:00 AM

San Antonio's bid for a $750 million Toyota Motor Corp. manufacturing plant may be bolstered by its proximity to the Port of Houston, local officials said Monday after a meeting with Toyota executives.

Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff and three commissioners of the Port of Houston Authority met with Toyota of North America officials at the company's manufacturing headquarters in Kentucky to discuss shipping parts into the port in the event the Japanese automaker builds a plant near San Antonio.

Toyota has been considering South Bexar County and other sites for its sixth North American assembly plant, which would build full-size Tundra pickups. While the company said it hasn't decided where — or even if — it will build the plant, insiders have placed San Antonio as the front-runner.

"It's just an extra benefit that we're located 200 miles from a major port facility," Wolff said. "And I think we did a good job communicating that to Toyota."

Wolff arranged the meeting to further strengthen San Antonio's bid for the plant and expand the economic impact of the facility to other parts of the state.

Texas officials have said a Toyota plant in San Antonio could generate more than 16,000 new jobs from the plant itself, suppliers and support businesses. Its annual payroll is estimated at $265 million.

The Port of Houston is the world's sixth-largest port, handling 194 million tons of cargo last year. It's currently undertaking a $1.2 billion, 20-year expansion of its shipping capacity.

Toyota had imported some of its vehicles into the United States via the Port of Houston, but 10 years ago it moved those shipments to the West Coast, where it now does all of its overseas shipping.

About a quarter of the parts Toyota uses in its U.S.-manufactured vehicles are made overseas, either by the company or other suppliers.

A San Antonio plant would give the Port of Houston a chance to win back some of Toyota's business, said Jim Fonteno, one of the commissioners who attended the meeting.

"If cargo moves across our docks, that's a good economic benefit for us," he said. "Logistically, we're going to do everything we can to support San Antonio's bid."

The Port of Houston would provide a shorter land route to a San Antonio plant for parts or heavy manufacturing equipment than West Coast docks, Fonteno added.

What's more, Toyota could use the port to ship vehicles produced at the proposed Texas plant to offshore markets, according to Wolff.

Initially, the company plans to use the plant to make vehicles for sale in the domestic market, but it could expand to include cars made for foreign markets as well.

Last year's labor lockout of West Coast ports heightened Toyota's interest in finding alternate shipping locations. A dispute between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and port operators closed West Coast ports, battering the economy and costing businesses $2 billion a day.

The strike ended when President Bush invoked the Taft-Hartley Act, ordering port workers back to work.

Toyota spokesman Dan Sieger said the company is now considering using the Port of Houston for some of its shipping, but he declined to discuss the meeting with Wolff and port officials.

"While the West Coast work crisis was going on, we looked at a lot of options," Sieger said. "It wouldn't be a surprise if (the Port of Houston) was one of the alternatives we considered."

During Monday's talks, Wolff said the company also considered possible routes over which a second rail line could be built to the plant, should it be located in South Bexar County.

As part of the company's negotiations with local officials, a newly created railroad authority is expected to build a $22 million link between a Burlington Northern Santa Fe rail line and the plant site so that the facility can be served by two railroads.

Company officials are still considering which of six routes could be built to connect the plant to the Burlington Northern line, Wolff said.

"They liked the proposal," he added. "I think they felt good about both presentations today."

snowlin@express-news.net

Galveston Bay Conservation and Preservation Association
P.O. Box 323, Seabrook, Texas 77586
Phone: 281-326-3343
Website: www.gbcpa.org
E-mail:  gbcpa@gbcpa.org