SDI drops Lowndes port land buy

A $2M deal for Steel Dynamics Inc. to purchase 90 acres of the Lowndes County Port Authority’s East Bank has fallen through. 

Port Director Will Sanders told The Dispatch that SDI and the Golden Triangle Development LINK notified him and the board of supervisors in October that the deal was off. 

“There really isn’t much to say about it,” Sanders said. LINK CEO Joe Max Higgins told the port they'd backed out of deal. 

SDI secured an option to purchase the land in 2022 when it announced a $2.5B project to build a flat-roll aluminum mill on a 2,100-acre site and a biocarbon facility. 

At the time, SDI proposed a logistics center to handle on-loading and offloading to and from the port to support ADI’s operations. That option, at no cost to SDI, was to expire in December 2024.

Higgins said the company no longer needs the land because of a merger between Kansas City Southern Rail Company and Canadian Pacific, which will allow SDI to ship raw materials via more available rail lines that would be less expensive for SDI. 

Higgins added that SDI’s decision won't impact any business it already does with the port. 

“(Q)uite frankly, they’ve got a better alternative,” Higgins said. 

Sanders said the port authority is working with LINK to secure prospective tenants or develop the 90 acres. 

Higgins said future developments at the port could take several shapes. 

“We’ve been asking, ‘What does the port want to be when it grows up?’” Higgins said. 

LINK is looking at transloading and offloading facilities, construction and raw materials and warehousing possibilities.

Board of Supervisors President Trip Hairston said the agency will consider amending part of a resolution it passed in January requiring LCPA to obtain board approval on contract options longer than six months or deals involving more than $25,000.

“We plan to bring up the resolution" at the Nov. 15 meeting, Hairston said. 

“What I hope we will do ... is to leave in place" no type of land transactions "without some sort of blessing from board supervisors.” (The Dispatch 11/09/23)