STEADY GROWTH FOR EAST ANGLIAN PORTS IN FIRST HALF OF 2006
Associated British Ports’ (ABP) East Anglian Ports of Ipswich, Lowestoft and King’s Lynn handled more than 2.2 million tonnes of cargo in the first six months of this year – a 3.3 per cent increase on 2005 figures.
Cargo volumes handled at the Port of Ipswich increased by 87,000 tonnes to more than 1.8 million tonnes over the period. This figure looks set to continue to rise with the signing of a three-year agreement with Solvay Chemicals International (Solvay) for the importation of soda ash.
Complementing Solvay’s processing facility, located in north-west England, the new cargo-handling operation at the port will take more than 100,000 lorry-miles off the UK’s roads, hugely benefiting the environment. The port recently purchased one loading shovel and one elevating conveyor-belt for loading road-tankers in order to facilitate the cargo-handling operation.
The first half of 2006 saw the Port of Lowestoft post an impressive 42 per cent increase in cargo tonnages handled, with the second half of the year looking equally promising following the recent signing of a five-year agreement with Waveney Asphalt Company Ltd. The agreement will see Waveney Asphalt import some 40,000 tonnes of aggregates every year through the port.
As part of the agreement, ABP invested £130,000 to remove a steel-framed warehouse from the port’s North Quay Cargo Terminal and to install 10 segregated aggregates-storage bays in its place. With a combined holding capacity of 20,000 tonnes, the bays will house Waveney Asphalt’s shipments before delivery to their asphalt-coating plant in Ellough, Suffolk. The plant itself was imported through the port late last year from Duisberg, Germany, aboard m.v. RMS Rhenus and m.v RMS Setlark XXXX.
Lowestoft-based SLP Engineering Ltd (SLP) continues to play a vital role in servicing the oil, gas and renewable-energy industries, and has seen an increase in demand for large topside-deck structures destined for the North Sea. So far this year, five modules have been shipped from Lowestoft.
Situated on the banks of Lake Lothing, Lowestoft Haven Marina, this year, celebrated its second anniversary with an Open Day. The marina, which was officially opened in May 2004, has quickly established itself as a popular destination for yachtsmen, mainly due to its easy access to the open sea and the Norfolk Broads. The 140-berth marina has attracted over 300 visiting yachts from as far afield as Australia, the USA and mainland Europe, and currently boasts an occupancy rate of over 70 per cent.
Cargo volumes at the Port of King’s Lynn exceeded a quarter-of-a-million tonnes in the first half of 2006, with the port going to handle significant shipments in July and August.
Over the summer, the port handled 10,000 cu m of styrofoam bound for St Petersburg, Russia, on behalf of Dow Chemicals, the plastics and chemical manufacturers, and discharged four 2,000-tonne shipments of crushed concrete from Milford Haven. The cargoes were destined for aggregates companies in north-west Norfolk.
King’s Lynn also welcomed its first shipment of unprocessed logs this year. Henrikson Shipping transported the 2,500 cu m cargo from Denmark and the logs were discharged and redelivered by JST Services to their final destination, a sawmill in Brackley, Northamptonshire.
Matt Jukes, ABP Port Director, Short-Sea Ports, said:
“ABP’s Ports of Ipswich, Lowestoft, and King’s Lynn continued to strengthen business relationships with their customers and cultivated new trades in the first half of 2006, thus helping to maintain and reinforce ABP’s position as one of the region’s leading port operators.”
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