ABP reports a significant rebound in timber and forest products handling at its ports ringing the UK in 2021; from Ayr and Troon, to Hull and Immingham, King’s Lynn and Ipswich, Swansea and Newport. The company is also clearly intent on growing and developing this vital part of its operations, with a range of investment projects over the last year and introduction of new services.
Across the group last year ABP handled 2.1 million tonnes of forest products, an 18% rise on 2020.
“A significant portion of 2021’s increased volumes can be attributed to growth in consumption in DIY, manufacturing and construction,” said Kim Kennedy, ABP King’s Lynn port manager. “In fact, it was a record year for timber handling at King’s Lynn as we saw around 220,000 tonnes of timber pass through, while on the Humber we had a 17% rise in forest products. And in 2022 we’re still experiencing significant growth compared with 2020.”
Last year ABP and its customers had to deal with the administrative changes imposed by Brexit, but it says its team rose to the challenge.
“Across all our ports handling timber we’ve supported customers and guided them through the transition period,” said Ms Kennedy. “It’s been a partnership and team effort to ensure all relevant customs clearance procedures were navigated successfully.”
Perhaps the headline development in ABP’s forest products operations over the last year was the opening in December of its new Vancouver Timber Terminal at King’s Lynn.
The record timber throughput at the port in 2021 represented an 85% increase on 2020, driven by rising consumption in construction. The new facility, named after 18th century King’s Lynn seafarer Captain George Vancouver, was commissioned to meet the needs of existing commodity customers for undercover storage and to provide capacity for further growth.
The port covers 39 hectares and handles 500,000 tonnes of goods a year, including metals and dry bulks as well as forest products. To this, the new timber terminal, constructed by builders and engineers Britcon, adds 3,000m2 more undercover space.
“We’ve invested over £1.4m in a new Dutch Barn,” said Ms Kennedy. “It’s 130m by 25m and could accommodate 120 stacked double decker buses.”
The regional strategy for King’s Lynn, she added, is to focus on serving more timber sector customers. “The port is ideally located and has the right expertise, and the space to support the industry,” she said.
“We’re also investing in technological innovation to enhance customer service. As part of this we’re currently developing a new timber terminal operating system at King’s Lynn, which we hope to roll out in the next six months.
In another important development, terminal operator Seacon (SG) has returned to ABP’s Port of Garston.
“As of February this year, Seacon (SG) has been operating a forest terminal at Garston, with ABP providing 50,000ft2 of covered storage as part of the agreement with the company,” said Ms Kennedy. “By re-establishing a base at the port, Seacon will be able to service its customers from two locations, bringing multiple products closer to their end market. It’s a strategic decision that will save millions of road miles every year, reducing the company’s carbon footprint.”
In what ABP describes as “an excellent piece of positive news”, it has also renewed its long-term contract with the TimberLINK service at the ports of Ayr and Troon, aimed at moving timber from road to sea freight.
“We’ve operated TimberLINK on behalf of Forestry Commission Scotland since 2000,” said Ms Kennedy. “It saves an estimated one million lorry miles per year, relieving congestion on local touristic roads and helping reduce carbon emissions.”
Inevitably, the war in Ukraine has created challenges and uncertainties across the port sector.
“We continue to watch unfolding events with concern and great sympathy for those impacted,” said Ms Kennedy. “The immediate impacts of the conflict for UK ports have been limited due to the relatively small amounts of freight moving directly between the UK and Russia and Ukraine – although there are some concentrations in commodities like oil and grains. We continue to monitor both the direct impact and also the knock-on effects on other commodities, such as agricultural products.
“The maritime sector, as a whole, has also faced an increase in transport costs due to this. However, we have been working closely with customers to support them in finding alternative sources of goods.”
ABP is not giving too much away about its next planned developments, but, said Ms Kennedy, in its programme of investment in port infrastructure, training and recruitment, the company “always keeps the needs of timber customers in mind”.
