NEW STEEL AGREEMENT HIGHLIGHTS IMPROVEMENTS AT PORTS OF NEWPORT AND SWANSEA
Steel tonnages handled at Associated British Ports’ (ABP) Ports of Newport and Swansea look set to rise in 2006 and beyond, following the renewal of a three-year agreement between ABP and Corus Group (Corus) to ship substantial volumes of steel coil through the two ports.
The agreement will see Newport and Swansea export thousands of tonnes of Corus’s steel coil to destinations all over the world. For its part, ABP will invest £500,000 to construct a new rail-passing loop at the Port of Newport, install modern storage facilities in Newport’s ‘6’ Shed and Swansea’s ‘D’ Shed and provide an electronic-tallying system to record the handling of steel cargoes at Newport.
ABP enjoys a long-standing relationship with Corus, working closely with the UK’s largest steel producer across South Wales. ABP’s Port Talbot handles imported coal and iron ore, which is subsequently smelted at Corus’s Port Talbot Steelworks. Steel-export operations for Corus at the Port of Newport benefit from ABP’s modern cranage and state-of-the-art steel-handling facilities.
John Fitzgerald, Port Director for ABP’s South Wales Ports, said:
“The renewal of this agreement not only highlights ABP’s ability to generate guaranteed growth in its steel-handling business successfully, it also reinforces ABP’s first-class steel-handling credentials at its Ports of Newport and Swansea. The two ports are well-equipped to handle large volumes of steel, and ABP’s investment to upgrade their handling facilities will allow them to export Corus’s steel coil products at an unsurpassed level of safety and efficiency.”
He added:
“The new rail-passing loop will allow two half-kilometre-long trains to access the Port of Newport simultaneously, reducing train-handling times at the port by half. The loop will also increase the efficiency of the port’s steel-handling operations and strengthen ABP’s commitment to its sustainable development policy, which seeks to encourage a greater proportion of port cargo to be delivered by rail instead of by road – a definite plus point for the environment.”
Phil Dyrden, Managing Director for Corus Strip Products UK, said:
“Corus’s decision to continue exporting steel coil through the Ports of Newport and Swansea reflects the excellent port infrastructure that ABP provides in South Wales. ABP’s investment to improve rail links at the Port of Newport also helps Corus to reduce its distribution costs. Corus and ABP have worked closely together in South Wales for many years, and we at Corus look forward to working with them well into the future.”
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