The Andersons Inc., Maumee, Ohio, announced on March 16 that it plans to expand its wholesale fertilizer distribution terminal at Lordstown, Ohio, increasing dry bulk storage by nearly 65% with the addition of a new 10,000-ton storage building. The project also features enhancements to the receiving system and loadout automation process.
“The Lordstown facility is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. This investment further supports The Andersons commitment to growing with our customers in the northeast Ohio market,” said Andy Spahr, Vice President Wholesale for The Andersons. “We look forward to the positive impact this project will have, supplying key nutrients for agricultural production when and where it matters most, positioning the Lordstown facility to serve the market for the next 25 years.”
The upgrade will increase bulk dry storage capacity at the terminal from 15,500 to 25,000 tons, and the new receiving system will expand unloading capacity from 300 to 500 tons per hour, according to Operations Manager Josh Kurth. The expansion project is expected to be completed by fall of 2023. Automation to the loadout process has already been completed, the company said, streamlining traffic flows and reducing loading times by 25%.
The Lordstown terminal is one of five wholesale ag facilities that The Andersons operates in Ohio, with the others located at Maumee, Toledo, Upper Sandusky, and Carey. The Andersons opened the Lordstown site in 1998 (GM March 9, 1998) to supply dry bulk fertilizer to dealers and distributors in northeastern Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York.
The facility was initially a bulk blending site with 6,100 tons of storage capacity, but a $1 million expansion in 2003 (GM Dec. 9, 2002) more than doubled the dry capacity and added liquid transfer capabilities to allow for truckload shipments of nitrogen solutions and other non-pressure liquids. Another upgrade in 2020 added a 1.5 million-gallon UAN storage tank at Lordstown (GM Feb. 28, 2020), expanding UAN capacity at the site to 3 million gallons.