Since opening in 1886 to alleviate congestion in the docks in London’s East End, the Port of Tilbury has grown to become a massively important trade hub for the UK. For the forest products trade, a scan through past issues of TTJ through the decades reveals just what a big role the port has played in bulk imports of solid timber and panel products.
In the 1977 annual edition of TTJ, large volumes of Canadian softwood and shipments from the Far East came through the bulk forest product terminals at 42, 44 and 46 berths.
The growth of container traffic in the 70s and 80s dramatically changed the nature of employment at the port, and though the volumes of solid wood may not be as high as in past decades and the port has diversified into many more cargo sectors, Tilbury remains a major port for forest products and is the UK’s leading port for plywood imports.
Paul Dale, senior asset manager at the Port of Tilbury for Forth Ports, said the port’s historical forest products business involves the likes of Travis Perkins, Meyers and James Latham, with a long history of Grimaldi breakbulk vessels coming in from South America and Africa, and Saga Welco breakbulk vessels shipping from the Far East.
These days, the port’s containerised services complement breakbulk operations and see products being shipped from all over the world, including sheet materials from Malaysia, China, South America and the Baltics.
"Tilbury, through its geographic location is strategically located. We have a great deal of history dealing with sheet materials, timber and pulp/paper.
"It’s a core business for us and long may that continue. I would say that we are the largest importer of the combined forest products trade in the UK, with trade routes for all origins."
In terms of solid wood, UPM, MBM, L&G Forest Products and BSW Timber are large volume users of Tilbury.
On the sheet material side, UPM, MBM, Meyer Timber, International Plywood, Panel Supplies, Caledonian Plywood, Lathams, Travis Perkins and Altripan have a large presence.
The Logistics Terminal (TLT) and Denholm Handling also offer services at Tilbury and have timber sector clients such as MDM, International Timber and Wood International Agency.
And of course there are a number of other timber companies bringing in container freight, dealing direct with shipping lines. "There is a broad spectrum of timber and sheet material importers, traders and agents," added Mr Dale.
"On the timber front we have a historical relationship with MBM, which is a well established importer." MBM uses 32 berth for bulk timber and berths 40/42 for sheet material.
"In recent years we have added the likes of Altripan, International Plywood and Caledonian Plywood," said Mr Dale.
More recent joiners to the Tilbury community include BSW Timber, with timber coming from its Fort William mill. The new service, launched in September last year has allowed BSW to significantly expand its logistics operation in southern England with a 24-hour delivery distribution centre at Tilbury enabling the company to service tighter order timescales from London and southeast customers. Boyd Brothers is providing the sea freight service.
"You only have to look at where the majority of construction spend in the UK is – London," said Mr Dale. "It has proved an attraction for the likes of BSW."
A timber hub was also recently created for L&G Forest Products, while Mr Dale says the port has to also handles some hardwood products for the likes of the James Latham Group.
"We can tailor our operations to our customers’ needs," added Mr Dale. "What we do for MBM is different from what we do for L&G and different from UPM."
Grimaldi breakbulk vessels still call from South America and Africa, while Saga Welco is mainly involved in bringing in Chinese plywood. Shortsea routes for Scandinavian traffic are operated by the likes of Transfennica, based at 47 berth, though several of the importers charter their own vessels.
The Port made a decision about 5 years ago to move away from fixed cranes and to invest in mobile cranes to aid flexibility. Additions include a Liebherr 1800 mobile crane, which when it was bought 18 months ago was the largest of its type in the UK port sector. It also has another two smaller Liebherrs and three new Sennebogens.
Overall, Tilbury handles in excess of three million tonnes of forest products annually (including paper products).
Mr Dale said trade flat-lined 5-6 years when the financial crisis struck, while in the last three years volumes have grown.
He admitted some smaller ports in the southeast of England may have more solid timber throughput than Tilbury, but the London port was a leader for plywood.
"We do see an upside when the construction and building trades are doing well. Mr Dale said the trend for the trade to hold less stock to reduce supply chain costs had enabled the port to diversify.
"We are seeing more ro-ro cargo. We are shipping more waste and construction materials, such as bricks and slate. A couple of years ago we would not have seen many bricks come through here."
Today one large multi-national client alone is due to ship in 35 million bricks this year. Waste material being shipped out includes glass and woodchip, being exported to mainland Europe and Scandinavia.
Stora Enso, UPM and SCA all have paper business at the port, while Tilbury is a major new car import centre, processing around 100,000 cars a year.
"While we are diversifying into other cargo products, forest products continues to be a major part of our cargo profile," Mr Dale emphasised, adding that Tilbury’s geographic location close to London would continue to make it an attractive shipping destination for the sector.
The Port offers 34 operational berths, over 16 independent working terminals, more than 7.5km of quay, over 500,000m2 of warehouse space and over 7km of road within the port estate.
London Container Terminal was created in 2012 after an acquisition and is the UK’s third largest container terminal, handling over half a million containers per year.
