POSITIVE START TO THE YEAR FOR GRIMSBY & IMMINGHAM
Associated British Ports’ (ABP) Port of Grimsby & Immingham, the UK’s largest port by tonnage*, has reported a strong start to the first six months of 2006. Significant growth was recorded in the dry-bulks and vehicle trades.
Dry-bulks throughput leapt by 4 per cent on 2005’s half-year figures, with the rise underpinned by a 6 per cent growth in coal imports. Vehicle handling also yielded major gains in the first six months of 2006, with the port handling nearly 320,000 vehicles – a 21 per cent increase on last year’s half-year figures.
The opening, this year, of the two largest developments ever to be undertaken by ABP should help the Port of Immingham enter a period of significant growth.
In May of this year, Humber International Terminal 2 was officially opened by HRH The Princess Royal. The £59.5 million dedicated coal-handling facility, which counts mining giant BHP Billiton, as well as power-station operators International Power, Scottish and Southern Energy, Drax Power and EDF Energy, among its customers, is the second phase of development of Humber International Terminal. It is capable of handling approximately 9.5 million tonnes of coal per annum.
The £35 million DFDS Nordic Terminal Riverside at Immingham Outer Harbour was officially opened in July of this year by Sir Digby Jones, the former Director-General of the CBI. The development, in which ABP invested £27.5 million, was built on the back of a 25-year agreement with Danish ro-ro ferry operators DFDS Tor Line. DFDS Nordic Terminal Riverside covers an area of 50 acres and can handle three vessels berthed simultaneously on the River Humber, outside Immingham Lock. The new berths can accommodate DFDS’s newer and larger generation of vessels, and this development extends DFDS’s existing terminal in Immingham to a total of 170 acres and seven ro-ro berths.
Nick Palmer, ABP Port Director, Grimsby & Immingham, said that the first six months of 2006 had shown a positive start to the year.
“The openings, for business, of Humber International Terminal 2 and Immingham Outer Harbour have undoubtedly been the port’s highlights this year. Immingham is already the country’s number-one dry-bulks port and the number-two ro-ro port, and these new terminals will certainly help us secure our position for many years to come.
“We have also had other positive business developments, most notably having secured new business wins with animal feedstuff importers Arkady Feed UK Ltd and Cefetra, which have also helped to boost this year’s dry-bulks volumes.”
*According to Department for Transport statistics
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