DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
                           Foreign-Trade Zones Board

                               [Docket No. 10-82]

                                  47 FR 16058

                                 April 14, 1982


Foreign-Trade Zone No. 7, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico; Application for Subzone 

TEXT: Notice is hereby given that an application has been submitted to the
Foreign-Trade Zones Board (the Board) by the Puerto Rico Industrial
Development Company, Inc. (PRIDCO), an agency of the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico and grantee of Foreign-Trade Zone 7, requesting authority to
establish a foreign-trade subzone for Commonwealth Oil Refining Company,
Inc. near Penuelas, Puerto Rico, adjacent to the Ponce Customs port of
entry. The application was submitted pursuant to the provisions of the
Foreign-Trade Zones Act, as amended (19 U.S.C. 81a-81u), and the
regulations of the Board (15 CFR Part 400). It was formally filed on April
2, 1982. The applicant is authorized to make this proposal under Joint
Resolution No. 26 of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Legislature, approved
June 19, 1958.

   On June 27, 1960, PRIDCO received authority from the Board to establish
a foreign-trade zone project in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico (25 FR 6311, 7-2-60).
Covering 42 acres in an industrial park setting, the zone offers over
230,000 square feet in 12 buildings for manufacturing and warehousing
activities. Five manufacturing firms employing 400 persons utilized zone
facilities in fiscal year 1980.

   PRIDCO now requests subzones status for the petroleum refining and
petrochemical complex of the Commonwealth Refining Company, Inc. (CORCO)
near Penuelas. CORCO is an independent refiner with its headquarters in San
Antonio, Texas. The 695-acre Penuelas complex is the firm's only production
facility. It includes a 100,000 barrel per day crude oil refinery which
produces gasoline and fuel oil, as well as three petrochemical plants which
produce intermediate industrial products such as benzene, toluene,and
cyclohexane. The facility has been a major supplier of energy and
petrochemcial products for Puerto Rico since its start-up in 1956.

   Since 1979, CORCO has seen a major reduction in its share of the domestic
mainland and Puerto Rican markets, with a resulting severe cut-back in
operations at the complex. Employment has dropped from a peak of 1400 to
200 today. In its efforts to revive the facility and to achieve a
profitable level of capacity utilization, the company has set its sights
on the export market, mainly through processing agreements which would
help develop long-term supply relationships. Because it is dependent on
foreign suppliers for its feedstocks, CORCO desires subzone status to
facilitate the Customs phase of its operations. 

   Zone procedures will allow CORCO to avoid duty and drawback on its
exports. On its domestic sales the company can defer payment of duties and
take advantage of lower duty rates available to importers of refined
products. It will also utilize subzone status to provide assurances to
foreign crude oil suppliers that CORCO will be able to fulfill long-term
commitments under processing agreements.

   In accorance with the Board's regulations, an examiners committee has
been appointed to investigate the application and report to the Board. The
committee consists of: Dennis Puccinelli (Chairman), Foreign-Trade Zones
Staff, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C. 20230; Charles W.
Winwood, Director (Inspection and Control), U.S. Customs Service, Region
IV, 99 S.E. 5th Street, Miami, Florida 33131; and Colonel Alfred B
Devereaux, District Engineer, U.S. Army Engineer District Jacksonville,
P.O. Box 4970, Jacksonville, Florida 32232. 

   Comments concerning the proposed subzone are invited in writing from
interested persons and organizations. They should be addressed to the
Board's Executive Secretary at the address below and postmarked on or
before May 12, 1982.

   A copy of the application is available for public inspection at each
of the following locations:

   U.S. Dept. of Commerce District Office,
Room 659, Federal Building,
Avenida Chardon,
San Juan, Puerto Rico 00918.

   Office of the Executive Secretary,
Foreign-Trade Zones Board,
U.S. Department of Commerce,
14th and Constitution Avenue, NW., Room 3721,
Washington, D.C. 20230.

   Dated: April 8, 1982.


John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,

   Executive Secretary, Foreign-Trade Zones Board.  
[FR Doc. 82-10154 Filed 4-13-82; 8:45 am]

   BILLING CODE 3510-25-M