Plywood shipment bottlenecks at the Port of Tilbury are causing concern among importers.
Greatly increasing volumes of Brazilian plywood entering the port are causing delays at Tilbury’s facilities for the so-called ‘stripping’ or unloading of plywood containers.
Hold-ups at the sites, operated by Tilbury Freight Station and other companies, mean that instead of shipments being released within a matter of days, importers are having to wait several weeks.
An un-named importer told TTJ: ‘Importers are becoming frustrated at the delays and the lack of flexibility on the part of Tilbury. They want to get the plywood out as quickly as possible so it can be sold, but find that they can’t at the moment.’
The situation, he said, has been made worse by Tilbury Freight Station’s restrictive ‘rent-free’ period for storing plywood on the quay.
Port of Tilbury director Eddie Goodwin said: ‘People like to have quotas ready for January, but we have seen it peak earlier than usual. There are large stocks coming in but nothing going out.’
He said action being taken to try and alleviate the situation includes the opening of two more sheds and the warning that vessels from short sea destinations such as Sweden may not be accepted at the port from mid-December if stocks have not shifted.
Mr Goodwin said: ‘We have also asked major receivers to help us help them by taking their product out quickly.’
Balfour Timber director Brian Kraushaar said: ‘Over the last two or three years container rates have been depressed, so it has become very competitive to bring plywood in from Brazil in boxes. But now so much is coming in they [Tilbury] just cannot cope with the volumes.’
