| For Immediate
Release
Friday, July 12, 1996 |
Contact:
Lee Lemke
China Clay Producers Association
(478) 757-1211 |
Kaolin Drives the Port of Savannah
Atlanta, Georgia- "A bustle of activity" is
one way to describe the Port of Savannah. It is literally
alive with movement. The huge facility located at the mouth
of the Savannah River, is one of the nation's oldest and yet
most modern ports. It is the terminus for trains and trucks
loaded with products from Georgia's mines, farms, woodlands
and manufacturers. The port is equipped to store and handle
almost any product or material from peanuts and lumber to
automobiles. However, kaolin is now the largest volume commodity
handled by the port.
Lee Lemke, Executive Vice President of the China Clay
Producers Association, a trade association headquartered
in Atlanta and representing Georgia's major kaolin producers
said, "Over the past 25 years, the kaolin industry has developed
a large world market for its products, working with our
industry and private investors, the Ports Authority has
developed the world's most sophisticated and innovative
handling systems for rapidly and efficiently storing and
handling kaolin products." He said, "Almost 30% of the industries'
production is exported through the port." The principal
foreign markets currently being served are Europe, Japan,
Korea and Indonesia. Lemke also said, "While we have had
good success in foreign markets, we are beginning to experience
strong competition from kaolin producers in Brazil, Australia,
and China."
E. Gay Mayfield, President of Peeples Industries, Inc.,
whose subsidiary, Southern Bulk Industries, Inc., operates
a kaolin handling facility in the port said: "The Port of
Savannah handled in excess of 2,300,000 tons of kaolin products
last year. Handling these products required the collective
efforts of a wide variety of marine and export service companies,
which provided material handling, transportation, and export
processing services. When you consider the effect on the
Maritime Industry as a whole, Georgia's kaolin industry
has created more than 550 jobs in the Savannah area".
Kaolin is mined and processed in the primarily rural counties
of Middle Georgia between Macon and Augusta. It is used
in large volumes in the manufacture of paper, paint, plastics,
rubber, ceramics and fiberglass, as well as hundreds of
other products.
The China Clay Producers Association is a trade association
located at 4885 Riverside Drive; Suite 108; Macon, Georgia
31210, with the following member companies: Dry Branch Kaolin
Co., Dry Branch, Ga.; ECC International, Sandersville, Ga.;
Engelhard Corp., Gordon, Ga.; J. M. Huber Corp., Macon,
Ga.; and Thiele Kaolin Co., Sandersville, Ga.
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