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Port of Corpus Christi’s Foreign Trade Zone Best in Nation
[ December 10, 2020 // Gary G Burrows ] The Port of Corpus Christi’s Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) has been named the best in the nation by Site Selection Magazine, a recognition of the efforts by the Port and its customers to promote economic development and job growth in the Texas Coastal Bend region.
The Port of Corpus Christi’s FTZ 122 encompasses seven counties — Nueces, San Patricio, Aransas, Refugio, Bee, Jim Wells and Kleberg — in the South Texas Coastal Bend, with the Port Authority designated as its administrator. Foreign Trade Zones are a highly beneficial fiscal tool which can defer or reduce duty payments, streamline supply chain costs and improve a company’s competitive position in domestic and foreign markets. In the Coastal Bend, companies who have benefitted from FTZ status over the past few years include Gulf Coast Growth Ventures (an Exxon/SABIC joint venture) and voestalpine Texas in San Patricio County, as well as Tex-Isle’s energy tubular facility in Robstown.
“The ranking from Site Selection Magazine is an affirmation of the economic development activities by the Port of Corpus Christi over the past five years and the large, job-creating investments by our customers in our region,” said Sean Strawbridge, Chief Executive Officer for the Port of Corpus Christi. “Reaching this milestone is a testament to the growing investability in our region and the great working relationships we have cultivated with our customers and the surrounding communities.”
Site Selection Magazine used information from the 80th Annual Report of the Foreign-Trade Zones Board which was submitted to the U.S. Congress — published in November 2019 — to determine its rankings. The Port of Corpus Christi topped the list of 257 Foreign Trade Zones in the United States for combined economic impact and was also the top Texas port listed in the rankings, ahead of the Port of Houston and Texas City Foreign-Trade Zone Corporation.
“The Port of Corpus Christi is an economic engine for not just the Coastal Bend, but the entire State of Texas,” said Charles W. Zahn, Port of Corpus Christi Commission Chairman. “We are grateful to the companies who have made the decision to invest their dollars into our communities, bringing new jobs and opportunities to the area, over the past few years.”
Tags: Port of Corpus Christi