By Paul Scott Abbott, AJOT The Port of St. Bernard, on the Lower Mississippi River, is already busy with Latin American trade that includes imports of copper goods from Chile. Port officials are actively marketing their facilities to handle additional volumes of Latin American commerce. Associated Terminals handles monthly shipments of imported Chilean copper, averaging between 3,000 and 4,000 tons, at the Port of St. Bernard’s Chalmette Slip (Arabi Terminal and Industrial Park), according to David “Jeff” McClain, director of quality control for the St. Bernard Port, Harbor & Terminal District. Associated Terminals leases all of the Port of St. Bernard’s marine facilities, including two general cargo warehouses, totaling 160,000 square feet, which are adjacent to a 1,700-linear-foot dock . The firm operates the port’s three deepdraft berthing locations and offers a variety of services related to bulk and breakbulk cargoes, such as truck and rail loading and unloading, warehousing and storage, bagging, and screening and processing services. “Historically this facility has handled a wide range of general cargoes originating in Latin America, including steel coils, project cargo and aluminum,” said David Fennelly, president of Associated Terminals. The Arabi Terminal/Chalmette Slip site includes a 25-acre marine terminal plus a 100-acre business park. One mile downriver from it is the 216-acre Chalmette Terminal and Industrial Park. The port facilities are immediately downriver from New Orleans. In marketing the Port of St. Bernard, officials note that its strategic location offers access to growing domestic and Latin American markets and can provide a link for raw and finished goods between the US Midwest and Latin America. Selling points include access to extensive inland waterways, swift rail connections to America’s Heartland and rapid delivery options by truck, as well as extensive land available for development.