TTJ: THE RECENT TIMBER MARKET HAS BEEN CHALLENGING, SO HOW HAS THROUGHPUT AT KING’S LYNN AND THE WIDER NETWORK OF ABP PORTS FARED?
Kim Kennedy: King’s Lynn is one of the leading timber-handling ports in the UK and June 2023 has proven to be the second busiest month on record for timber handling at ABP. So far this year we’re exceeding 109,000m3. In general, that compares favourably with 2021, which was a recordbreaking year in terms of timber volumes.
Many of our timber customers at the Port of King’s Lynn support the construction and home development industries. Whilst the past 12 months have been challenging for most businesses with the rise of fuel costs and geopolitical forces, these sectors have proved very resilient.
An interesting fact is that the average timber vessel is between 3,000-4,000m3, which is about 4,000,000 litres, the same size as the Blue Planet Aquarium in Cheshire. The team at the Port of King’s Lynn load on average 2,500m3 of timber for traders each week to leave the port estate to go directly to their customers.
As for the wider ABP group, with 21 ports handling around a quarter of the UK’s seaborne trade, together with our customers we contribute £15bn to the UK economy and support over 200,000 jobs. Our ports not only provide essential gateways for trade, they enable green infrastructure and catalyse investment and job creation in coastal communities. These contributions are built on the foundations of safe and resilient operations today and a willingness to embrace innovation and people development to deliver the ports of the future.
With their strong rail and road connectivity to important domestic industrial clusters, logistics hubs and major conurbations, ABP’s ports handle trade worth £157bn every year
TTJ: HAVE THERE BEEN DEVELOPMENTS IN TERMS OF NEW SOURCES OF TIMBER SUPPLY COMING INTO KING’S LYNN?
KK: Most of the timber volumes coming into the port are sourced from Scandinavian countries but volumes from our new customers are sourced from Latvia, which is driving additional volume.
TTJ: KING’S LYNN SERVES A RANGE OF TIMBER CUSTOMERS AND SUPPLIERS. CAN YOU SUMMARISE THE DIFFERENT DEMANDS THIS PLACES ON THE PORT?
KK: In whatever size and packaging forest products arrive at the port, we have the expertise and equipment to handle them efficiently. Whether packages are round, square, long or short, we are able to segregate them into different commodity lines. This ensures that they can be organised appropriately, loaded onto trailers and sent out directly and efficiently to customers. We act as their distribution terminal.
In terms of volumes, our biggest customers are Setra Group, Travis Perkins, and Metsä Group.
Setra Group is one of Sweden’s largest wood industry companies, transforming forest raw material into climate-friendly, valueadded products. Its timber is transported to the Port of King’s Lynn, where it is machined and treated, creating green value. Setra Group’s products include glulam, planed timber, wooden components and crosslaminated timber for the global housing and construction market.
Jason Dodd, director at Setra Wood Products Ltd said that the company chooses the Port of King’s Lynn as the destination for its timber from Sweden “because of its strategic location and proximity to local markets”.
ABP supports Travis Perkins’ operations at the Port of King’s Lynn by discharging its timber and safely storing it on site. This gives it the flexibility to comfortably plan the rest of the journey, so that the product reaches its final destination cost-effectively and on time.
Metsä Group has been importing timber into the Port of King’s Lynn for a very long time. As a company with Finnish roots, it invests in growth, developing bio-products and a fossil-free future, and this commitment to sustainability is very much shared by ABP.
TTJ: HAVE YOU UNDERTAKEN FURTHER CAPITAL INVESTMENT IN TIMBER HANDLING AND STORAGE?
KK: We have made a number of investments in our timber handling facilities, including new hard standing and a new Terminal Operating System to streamline operations.
TTJ: HAVE ANY NEW TIMBER SHIPPING LINES STARTED TO USE KING’S LYNN?
KK: Not new shipping lines, but we’ve seen the regular return of shipping lines familiar with the port.
TTJ: HAS THE WAR IN UKRAINE IMPACTED THE PORT?
KK: No, as timber volumes were not previously imported from either Russia or Belarus.
TTJ: CLEARLY IMPROVING ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE IS AS KEY TO LOGISTICS BUSINESSES AS ANY _ HAS ABP UNDERTAKEN ANY DEVELOPMENTS IN THIS AREA RECENTLY?
KK: ABP continues to seek sustainable ideas and initiatives focusing on reducing our carbon footprint. We are redefining what Keeping Britain Trading means in the greener, cleaner economy of the future. This is reflected in the launch of our sustainability strategy, ‘Ready for Tomorrow’, which sets out our plan to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions from our own operations by 2040 by the latest.
TTJ: HOW DOES ABP SEE ITS TIMBER OPERATIONS DEVELOPING THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF 2023 AND BEYOND?
KK: We are cautiously optimistic about the level of volumes of timber expected this year and we see the sector’s increasing sensitivity to the importance of creating sustainable supply chains to meet the UK’s net zero objectives as another exciting development.
