Plummeting freight rates from the Far East into Northern Europe have put the spotlight on the costs of inland haulage and encouraged shippers to consider new routes, according to Martyn Pellew, PD Ports group marketing director.
"The fact that we have seen freight rates slashed to less than £200 a box from the Far East means that the inland leg is thrown into pretty stark relief. People are looking to see how they can improve the length and cost of inland movement and the fact that the seafreight leg is almost free now means you might as well bring the box into a port close to you," he said to Port Strategy.
"We are talking to a number of people who will, in January, be looking more deeply into the way they arrange their supply chain - and that includes reducing inland mileage."
Mr Pellew said he believes this phenomenon could lead to an increase in feeder traffic into Teesport in the short-term, and in the longer-term more direct calls, into PD's proposed Northern Gateway Container Terminal.
In the current climate, Teesport has seen container volumes fall by 15% in recent months but Mr Pellew said the longer-term prospects for the port were good.
A "fair amount" of shipping lines are showing interest in the proposed £300m deepsea NGCT but so far no concrete deals have been signed. PD has always said it would go ahead with the project only with a co-investor or sufficient volume commitments.
Mr Pellew believes that the presence of the Asda regional import centre at Tees Dock and the opening of a similar centre for Tesco next door will drive demand for containers to be shipped direct into Teesport from the Far East.
While containers, cars and crude oil volumes have fallen at Tees & Hartlepool this year, other traditional traffics have held steady, including steel, potash and other bulks, said Mr Pellew. However, overall volumes are expected to fall below 50m tonnes for 2008.
