A lack of available haulage at southern UK ports and a capacity crunch on intermodal services connecting them to the hinterland has led to some cargo diverting to the country’s northern ports.
The port of Liverpool, which is currently constructing a new terminal that will take ships of up to 12,000teu, has seen volumes rise as shippers look to avoid the increased costs of bringing in their products through competing ports in the south.
According to the port of Liverpool, over the last year UK freight forwarder Metro Shipping has “transferred several high-profile retail customers from Felixstowe and Southampton to Liverpool to realise the benefit of reduced inland haulage costs, especially for goods coming from the Far East and US”.
Peel Ports, which owns both Liverpool and the Manchester Ship Canal, and is developing a logistics corridor connecting two of the largest cities in the north of the UK, said that it expected to see “increased volumes over the next year as the shortage of adequate road and rail infrastructure space in the south continues to affect delivery patterns and drive up transport costs”.
Grant Liddell, business development director at Metro Shipping, said: “We’ve recognised the benefit of Liverpool as a strategic hub for our north-west and other northern clients, and have developed a proposition through the port which delivers cost reduction and greater reliability within the logistics element of customers’ supply chains.”
Mr Liddell told The Loadstar that one of Metro’s large clients – a large timber company – was moving its imports through Tilbury, but had now split its cargo flows and reduced costs.
“Fifty percent of the volumes were going up to Liverpool anyway, because it’s where their clients are and as Tilbury is a feeder port, it is effectively the same cost to ship to Liverpool.
“So we have put the product into Liverpool instead, where we can handle the cargo next to their client – and it’s made a big difference, because of the issues of obtaining haulage in the south and because rail services out of Felixstowe and Southampton have also become congested,” he said.
Peel Ports’ commercial director Patrick Walters said: “We believe that the port of Liverpool will increasingly be seen as a preferred option, as cargo owners discover the benefits of delivering their products and goods much nearer to their end destination. Liverpool’s location at the heart of the UK offers a distinct advantage, with over 65% of the population of the UK and Ireland living within a 150-mile radius of the city.
“With high transport costs, increasing traffic congestion and limits to rail capacity, getting goods to market in the UK has grown increasingly complicated, more expensive and less carbon-efficient. To be more cost-effective, carriers are looking to choose ports that follow the cargo destination rather than ports which follow their networks.”
Peel Ports, the UK's second-largest port operator, has burst forward with its long term expansion plan after seeing revenues hit just under a billion dollars, a near 25% improvement in the year to March 31.
It looks to be a positive future for Peel Ports, with its futuristic Liverpool2 facility on the horizon that will have the capability to handle 95% of the world's container ship fleet, according to the Daily Telegraph.
The company have stated revenues rose by 24.3% to around US$970 million. Operating profit was also 6.9% higher.
Over 2014, the weight of goods the company handled was recorded at 65.6m tonnes.
As aforementioned, Peel Ports are awaiting the completion of a $467 million expansion of its Liverpool2 project in a bid to create the UK’s most central deepwater container terminal.
The first phase of Liverpool2 is expected to be completed in late 2015.
An artist's impression of the completed Liverpool 2. Image source: Ship-Technology
The enlarged terminal on the River Mersey is being created to handle 13,500 TEU ships, and that in turn will increase the port’s capacity to 1.5 million TEU, and when the second stage of development is finished in 2019, this will rise to 2.4 million TEU.
Graeme Charnock, Chief Financial Officer at Peel Ports, said: "These results give us a solid platform for sustainable growth in future years. Our 10-year plan is focusing on growth at all our ports and will be spearheaded by Liverpool2.
“Opening the UK’s most centrally located deepwater container terminal will offer importers and exporters a compelling proposition that will enable them to cut costs, cut carbon emissions and save unnecessary road journeys.”
http://www.porttechnology.org
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