Port Area Industries

Missouri Fibre Corporation

Missouri Fibre Corporation (MFC) operates a woodchip mill at Semo Port. Completed in 1998, the modern $13 million dollar mill efficiently utilizes all parts of logs for production of hardwood chips (used in making fine papers) and bark mulch (for landscaping). A truck scale weighs inbound trucks, whose logs are stacked by a large pedestal crane. After processing through the mill, chips and bark mulch are conveyed to their respective storage piles on concrete pads. The products are loaded into barges through the grain elevator’s river loadout conveyor.

Semo Milling, LLC

Semo Milling, LLC (SMC) is a technology advanced, state-of-the-art dry corn mill and custom bagging & logistics facility. Completed in 2007, it is set up to produce corn meal, corn flour and other products at a rate of 12,000 cwts. per day. The corn milling process starts when the corn is brought in by local farmers. The corn is processed and the finish product is then loaded for delivery in truck or rail car.

Semo Milling has obtained its Certification of Registration with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Tower Rock Stone

Immediately east (downriver) from Semo Port is the Tower Rock Stone (TRS) quarry. It is also known by the name of its original owner, West Lake Quarry, or its river location, Grays Point.

Tower Rock Stone Co. is a subsidiary of Luhr Bros., Inc., a large heavy and marine contractor firm headquartered in Columbia IL (near St. Louis). Luhr Bros. projects include earthwork, crushed stone, riprap, port maintenance, dams, dredging, draglines, rock excavations, reinforcement, bridges, railroads, underwater pipelines and cables, and underwater topographic surveys. Over $70 million of construction equipment is available for projects of all sizes.

The company operates its own fleet of towboats, barges, hoppers, and marine equipment. These are used for construction projects, movement of construction equipment, and transportation of crushed rock from quarries to a large network of distributors.

Buzzi Unicem

Buzzi Unicem, owns the cement plant in Cape Girardeau MO, located two miles upriver from Semo Port. The company owns six cement plants, three aggregate plants, and eight ready-mix facilities. It produces over four million tons a year, with over 1.4 million from the Cape Girardeau plant. One of the most modern cement plants in the nation, the Cape plant also uses shredded tires and specific types of hazardous wastes as fuel (along with 700 tons a day of coal), providing an environmentally sound method of disposal. The cement kiln, 235 feet long and 14.5 feet in diameter, operates at 2700 degrees Fahrenheit.

Buzzi’s plant produces both portland cement and masonry cement. Most of the cement (over 85%) is loaded to river barges for movement to distribution terminals in various cities. The remainder is handled by truck and rail shipments. Limestone rock is provided from a quarry adjacent to the plant. A future quarry is planned for Buzzi land adjacent to Semo Port. The plant employs 200 people.