Investing in bulk handling

At ABP’s 11 Short Sea Ports, investment is spread across a number of projects including the construction of new bulk terminals to accommodate for not only the growth of our customers, but new customers too.

The ABP Short Sea business comprises four regions and eleven ports located on the South, East and West coasts of the United Kingdom, handling around 5 million tonnes every year. One such is example is the Port of Garston which is benefitting from further investment with the completion of a new bulk storage warehouse. This has which immediately gone into use by a new customer.

A 40,000 square foot warehouse facility was built at the port earlier this year and was ready in time for grain and feed material trader Gemcom’s first delivery of 2300 tonnes of soya meal.

Gemcom trader, Caspar Digby, said: “Working with ABP in Garston has been a smooth and straightforward process.

“Gemcom is delighted to have use of an immaculate, brand new shed in which to store material. In addition to the quality of the new store, the Port of Garston is in a good strategic location for Gemcom’s customers.”

Port Manager, Paul Jervis, said: “ABP has invested over £2m into the development of this new warehouse facility.

“We are committed to putting our customers first and ensuring our facilities suit their needs. Working with Gemcom and setting up this new bulk storage warehouse is a great example of this.”

“This investment is a vote of confidence in the Port of Garston where we can offer a more focussed service than some of our competitors, and it is great to welcome Gemcom as a new customer,” Andrew Harston, ABP Short Sea Ports director, added.

Bulk terminals

Similarly, in June last year, the Port of Ipswich opened the £2.2m Orwell Bulk Terminal, a dry bulk warehouse terminal which now provides ABP and its customers with state-of-the-art facilities. The Orwell Bulk Terminal replaced the former ‘Number 3’ warehouse on the River Orwell at Cliff Quay and provides nearly an acre of purpose built storage for bulk commodities such as grain, barley and other agribulks.

At the Port of Teignmouth, the completion of a new bulk store facility has taken ABP’s investment at the port to nearly £1m in the last two years.

The bulk store was constructed by local company Bridge Construction, which completed the work earlier this year. It was designed to take into account future flood levels and ABP worked closely with Network Rail to ensure its construction did not affect rail services which run in close proximity to the port.

The first delivery for the 600m2 facility arrived on the MV Lady Ami which was carrying more than 2,400 tonnes of dry bulk from Cefetra, a major importer of animal feedstuff. With the success of this new bulk terminal, management are now planning for another terminal to be constructed in 2017.

In line with ABP’s effort to reduce its carbon footprint, these bulk terminals have been designed to minimise impact on the environment, with solar panels to provide sustainable energy. The panels are linked to the network which powers the port estate, providing energy for customers with any surplus exported to the grid.

Mr Harston said: “ABP is committed to the environment and we are always looking for opportunities where we can invest in renewable energy projects across our ports.”