With the building industry in the doldrums, it’s no surprise that Mitsubishi Cement Corp. hasn’t imported so much as an ounce of cement since late 2008.

But the company, part of Tokyo giant Mitsubishi Corp., wants to spend about $20 million to upgrade its terminal at the Port of Long Beach, betting that the industry will rebound soon.

Cement imports are down this year, and are expected to stay flat for the next three years, according to the Portland Cement Association trade group. But the association predicts that cement imports will grow 43 percent in 2015.

Mitsubishi Cement imports cement from Asia and operates a quarry in the Mojave Desert where it mines limestone and mixes and bakes it with other materials to produce cement, the glue that holds sand and gravel together to make concrete.

The company plans to build four cement storage silos at its port terminal, doubling storage capacity to 80,000 metric tons.

Bud Biggs, vice president of operations for Mitsubishi Cement, said the increased capacity will let the company unload ships immediately rather than having to wait for silos to empty. The improved terminal would be complete as early as 2013.

The port has started environmental review of the project. The next step is a scoping meeting, an opportunity for interested parties to say what they’d like to be studied in a full environmental impact report. It is scheduled for 6 p.m. Sept. 14 in Long Beach City Council chambers.

Iowa at the Port

The Port of Los Angeles has started the environmental review process for a project of its own: bringing retired battleship USS Iowa to San Pedro.

The Navy hasn’t decided whether the World War II-era ship will go to Los Angeles or Vallejo, but L.A. port officials already know about at least one possibly expensive impact. If the Iowa becomes a permanent fixture, it would force the port to spend up to a half-million dollars a year on a temporary terminal for cruise ships.

The Iowa would be docked at Berth 87, a spot that’s occasionally used to dock cruise ships. The berth is only used when more than two cruise ships are docked at once.

When business at the port’s World Cruise Center was better, days with three ships were more common. But with only about half as many passengers this year as in 2005, only two three-ship days are scheduled for the rest of this year.

But if the Iowa comes, the port will have to spend about $100,000 a day setting up a temporary terminal about two miles south of the World Cruise Center. Passengers would be shuttled to the temporary terminal.

Christopher Cannon, the port’s director of environmental management, said the temporary site would only have to be used four to five times a year. However, port officials believe that impact would be offset by an expected 400,000 annual visitors to the Iowa.

A scoping meeting for the Iowa project will be held at 6 p.m. Sept. 13 at the Port of Los Angeles administration building in San Pedro.

Parked in Long Beach

Toyota will be staying at the Port of Long Beach for at least 18 more years if the Long Beach Harbor Commission gives final approval this month to a new lease for the Japanese car giant.

A commission committee gave its initial approval last week to a 20-year deal – retroactive to 2009 – that keeps Toyota Motor Corp. at its Pier B location through the end of 2028.

The car company imports upwards of 100,000 Toyota, Lexus and Scion vehicles through the port each year.

Toyota’s last long-term lease expired in 2006, just as the port was developing its Green Port policies and a clean-air action plan. Eamonn Killeen, a senior leasing officer at the port, said lease negotiations were put on hold while details of the environmental programs were being finalized.

The new lease, unlike the last one, calls for Toyota to meet certain emissions goals, such as requiring freighters carrying its cargo to use cleaner burning fuels.

Toyota, a port tenant since 1981, will pay a minimum rent of $12 million a year over the next few years. Rent will be renegotiated every five years, a standard feature of port leases.

The harbor commissioners last week also approved a plan to buy downtown Long Beach’s One World Trade Center building for $130 million from Foster City-based Legacy Partners. The 27-story tower will replace the port administration building on Harbor Way next year.

Staff reporter James Rufus Koren can be reached at [email protected] or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 225.