Investment is the name of the game at the UK’s key timber handling ports as companies put money behind new technology, handling facilities and warehousing capability to deal with a marked increase in timber volumes.
During the first four months of 2006, traffic through Shoreham Port, the nearest south coast port to London, was at a 10-year high – up 18.5% on the same period in 2005. Total cargo handled at the port in 2005 totalled 1.83 million tonnes, an 8.3% increase on 2004. Softwood and sawn timber imports, which are up a third on last year, have been a major part of Shoreham’s business for around 30 years.
“There have been major technological changes in timber handling in recent years, so we have invested heavily in facilities and services to keep ahead of the game,” said chief executive Rod Johnstone. “We now have 36,000m2 of shed space, our handling areas are all paved and, unique to Shoreham, we have developed a stock monitoring system called Track-a-Pack.”
Track-a-Pack is a state-of-the-art stock control system using bar code and radio frequency technology to allow Shoreham’s customers to view up-to-date information about their stock. Mr Johnstone said that it is ideal for just-in-time delivery systems and allows shippers to monitor stocks from arrival. “This in turn speeds up road haulage because customers can identify exactly where their products are on site,” he added.
Shoreham investment
To maintain Shoreham’s levels of efficiency, over the last 12 months more than £2m has been invested in new cranes, plant and equipment. The port recently took delivery of a second Sennebogen 870M materials handling machine, which is adding further value to the business by speeding up vessel turnaround times. New contracts this year have been signed with Rowlinson Timber (Scandinavia and Baltic), QP Timber (Sweden) and George Harrison Ltd (Russia).
Meanwhile, volumes of forest products, including timber, continue to increase through the Port of London, and already total well over two million tonnes a year. Last year, the completion of a £34m investment at the Port of Tilbury signalled a huge upswing in volumes. Forth Ports, which owns Tilbury, also channelled its biggest ever investment into a new automated warehouse and cross-docking facility for Stora Enso.
Others are equally bullish about the prospects for timber. Medway Ports, operating at the Port of Sheerness, handles in the region of 450,000 tonnes of forest products. The bulk of the cargo is made up of woodpulp, newsprint and packaging paper with smaller volumes of timber and plywood. Currently Sheerness handles timber and plywood from Gearbulk’s break-bulk liner services from Chile and British Columbia. Sheerness has 65,000m2 of undercover storage space for forest products, with a further 16 acres outside for timber storage.
Sheerness is currently replacing its fork lift truck fleet following the renewal of the plant and equipment supply contract with Linde Material Handling (South East) Ltd. “The forest products area of the port is the major beneficiary of the new contract arrangements and allows us to continue to offer our customers an efficient and quality driven service,” said Jonathan Dix, Medway Ports marketing manager.
The importance of timber to Associated British Products (ABP) has been demonstrated with a series of key investments at its ports around the UK. Finnforest UK, a ABP port customer since 2000, reported that King’s Lynn’s average “per hour timber-handling productivity rate” rose by 35% on its previous year’s levels, while timber volumes at the Port of Lowestoft increased dramatically during 2005 with two new customers – HLC (Wood Products) Ltd and MBM Forest Products Ltd – using the port’s North Quay Cargo Terminal, which features a 30,000m2 storage area for timber handling operations.
Additional warehousing
The Port of Hull, the UK’s largest softwood timber port, handles around 1.8 million m3 of timber each year. The port’s Finland Terminal, which opened in 2000, is currently benefiting from a £4.8m investment by ABP to construct additional covered warehousing.
The investment will see the completion of two 45m-long extensions to the existing warehouse, the construction of a new 6,500m2 shed, additional paving for open storage and enhanced office accommodation. The development follows on the back of an extension to the present term-agreement between ABP and customers Finnlines plc, UPM-Kymmene Corporation, M-Real Alliance and Myllykoski Paper Oy.
Upon its completion, the expanded terminal – believed to be one of the largest of its kind in the UK – will provide approximately 70,000m2 of covered storage. In 2005, the terminal handled nearly 800,000 tonnes of trailer, container and mobile cargo, as well as forest products – a 6.6% increase on the previous year’s volumes.
Meanwhile, a £100,000 investment by ABP is expected to enable WestBank Timber Ltd to continue the expansion of its timber handling operations at the Port of Newport this year.
The port’s Transit Shed Number 4 is undergoing a revamp, with redundant internal structures removed, new lighting and fencing installed, and the surface drainage improved. To complement ABP’s refurbishment, WestBank Timber will undertake significant capital investments to facilitate its expansion at the port.
Containerised cargo
Last year, the Port of Liverpool, owned by Mersey Docks & Harbour Co, handled around 650,000 tonnes of timber. According to business development manager John Rogers, one of the most significant trends has been a big growth in containerised cargo in both panel products and timber.
“A lot of Canadian and North American softwood and hardwood suppliers are bringing product in which is tending to go to specialist timber distribution companies, who will process and then onward deliver,” he said. “From the port’s perspective, we have had a couple of main feeder services coming in which have opened up trading areas of the world to us where we haven’t had a significant presence before, particularly China (with plywood) and specialist timbers from South-east Asia.”
The company has consolidated its recent investment, which included 200,000ft2 of new warehousing, and new computer systems, like bar code readers and internet links to improve traceability of the products.
“We’d still like to be handling more timber,” said Mr Rogers. “But shipping freight rates have hardened, which means products from the Baltics and Sweden are always likely to go to the west coast ports. If freight rates softened, we’d see increased volumes.”
