The Port of Blyth in Northumberland has long been associated with the forest products sector and has used its expertise to attract several new services carrying timber and panel products.
Having developed originally on the back of paper imports from Finland, Blyth now has deep water quays accommodating vessels of up to 20,000DWT, first class lo-lo and ro-ro handling facilities and more than 65,000m² of modern warehousing.
This expertise has transferred well to the timber and panel products sector with pick-a-pack, damage control, computerised stock systems and just-in-time deliveries becoming increasingly applicable to all forest products handling.
The port’s position as one of the primary entry points from Finland was used as the basis for establishing a new fortnightly lo-lo and ro-ro service from late 2001. Managed by Transped Ltd in the UK, this service can accommodate timber, panel products and paper.
Plans are being considered to increase the frequency of this service further and possibly take in a Continental port of call, opening up the opportunity for imports from Germany, France and Benelux.
A new service from the Far East, in particular Indonesia, was also established during the second half of 2001, bringing primarily plywood into Blyth. Timber imports on this service are also expanding rapidly as Martin Lawlor, commercial director of Port of Blyth explains.
‘Importers of both panel products and timber from the Far East are realising the clear competitive advantage of moving at least a proportion of their trade direct into northern UK. Haulage costs are increasing year on year and with heavy congestion both in the southern ports and on the roads, Blyth is increasingly being seen as the ideal logistical solution,’ said Mr Lawlor.
Freight Agencies Ltd is the UK agent, offering a monthly or bi-monthly call dependent upon volumes.
Another deep sea service continues to operate from Brazil on a similar basis, again primarily concentrating upon plywood imports. This service is operated by Fargo Freight/Tirrena and uses Sao Francisco do Sul as its main loading port. Again, logistical factors, particularly when servicing northern customers, is stimulating growing interest in this service.
Finally, the port’s part-owned short sea service, NCL, offers weekly sailings from Riga and Sweden, with twice weekly calls from Holland. Although primarily a container service, NCL also offers potential for breakbulk cargo. The main attraction is that customers could ship 50-250m³ of timber or panel products every week without having to worry about consolidating the 500-1,000m³ parcel necessary to make a traditional lo-lo shipment viable. Urgent loads can be accommodated in the same way.
These services are all less than 18 months old and represent a remarkable turn around in Blyth’s fortunes following the loss of the majority of its traditional paper trade from Finland.
Mr Lawlor concluded: ‘Although that was a blow we were obviously left with experience, a reputation for first class service and the facilities to attract replacement cargo.
‘We have used this to our advantage, so much so that timber and panel products represents one of our fastest growing sectors. With our strategic location serving northern England and Scotland together with the full logistical service on offer, we are confident this rapid growth will continue.’
