International Access | San Patricio EDC

Global Trading Partners

San Patricio County and the Global Economy

San Patricio County, a primarily rural area within the Corpus Christi region, is located in deep South Texas. Locally we are a compilation of nine small cities connected to the rest of the world by the Port of Corpus Christi and the international highway system. Our economic history is a reflection of our natural landscape and resources. The county is home to numerous traditional ranches and rural communities on our northern end, and a thriving industrial port zone on our southern and eastern boundaries.

San Patricio County is located near the geographic center of North America, in South Texas, on the Gulf of Mexico coastline. The county is less than 200 miles (300 kilometers) from the international border with Mexico.

Our industries include an energy sector that impacts world markets, agriculture that feeds and clothes millions of people and maritime industries that keep the country’s third-largest port (by tonnage) running smoothly and efficiently.

“Finding the perfect location for a cutting-edge iron ore processing plant is not an easy task. Relevant location criteria include reliable supply of competitively priced natural gas, access to a deep sea port, well-trained workforce and favorable soil conditions. In addition, the location has to be in a predictable and stable legal and political environment. There is one site which stood out of the 17 assessed locations worldwide. This unique place is San Patricio County where we found what we were looking for. The level of professionalism is exceptional and the people in San Patricio County have become not only reliable business partners but also like a family.”

Matt Pastl, voestalpine, Austria

In the last ten years, the county has strengthened foreign trade relations with Latin America and Asia. Ongoing expansion of the Panama Canal means larger, higher-volume maritime traffic between the eastern U.S., the Gulf Coast, Asian ports like Tianjin, China, the world’s fourth busiest and Colombia’s Palmero Port Society, both of which the Port of Corpus Christi has entered into trade agreements.

Our relevance to international markets is in the chemical, manufacturing, oil, gas and agriculture industries.

International steel companies located in San Patricio County originate from China (Tianjin Pipe Company) and Austria (voestalpine). These, in addition to domestic companies such as Cheniere Energy (Corpus Christi Liquefaction, LLC) connect us to international hub destinations such as Spain, Austria, Central America, Australia and Indonesia. Together, these three companies are investing more than $15 billion in business development in San Patricio County over the next five years. Other major companies in San Patricio County conducting international business include Kiewit Offshore Services, Chemours, Enbridge, OxyChem, Flint Hills Resources, Cheniere, Voestalpine, Gulf Coast Growth Ventures, Steel Dynamics, TPCO America and Buckeye Partners, LP.

“Many factors went into the decision for TPCO to expand into San Patricio County. Some of the decision factors included affordable utilities including electric power, natural gas, industrial gases, and water. The acreage of the new TPCO America site is located in an industrial zone with a reasonable buffer zone. The San Patricio County area is pro industry, which made acceptance and support for the project easy to achieve. The schools in the area were ready to build partnerships to ensure we have the trained workforce we need.”

Robbin Goodman, TPCO America, China