Timber is “a key component and resource for a number of vital parts of the economy, not least the building, construction and related industries. With demand in these sectors buoyant – and with major new growth planned – it is important that ports are geared up to ship timber and timber products promptly and efficiently”.
This is the message from Simon Sherrard, chairman of the Port of London Authority, which last year saw overall throughput rise by 4.4% to a total of 53.3 million tonnes – the highest level since 1998. Volumes of forest products, including timber, continue to increase through the Port of London and already total well over two million tonnes each year.
Also on the Thames, the completion of a £34m investment at the Port of Tilbury is expected to lead to a huge upswing in volumes. Forth Ports, which owns Tilbury, has channelled its biggest investment into a new automated warehouse and cross-docking facility for Stora Enso. It is hoped this will result in a big jump in paper and forest product volumes through the port in 2005, as the company concentrates its southern UK imports through the new facility. Other trends include a strong market for Brazilian plywood, although Far Eastern product is also a strong feature of the mix, while Chinese product is of growing importance and volumes are likely to increase during 2005. “On the softwood trade, speciality timber volumes will expand and timber from West Africa remains a strong feature,” said a company spokesperson. “Recently there has been a trend away from containerised product particularly on the South American plywood trade and demand for break bulk services has risen across this route.”
Greater throughputs
It’s been a busy year for most of the UK’s port operators, with many beefing up their investments in timber handling and forest products facilities to allow for greater throughputs. The importance of timber to Associated British Ports (ABP) has been demonstrated with a series of key investments at its ports around the UK. For example, forest products represent 7.3% of Hull’s throughput and 11% of Goole’s. New terminals for North Sea Lumber’s timber imports from the Russian Federation, and Rix Shipping’s liner service to the Baltic states, became operational in March and May 2004 respectively, representing a total investment of £1.4m. A new £900,000 facility for Finnforest UK‘s timber imports is also set to become operational in 2005.
Current indications suggest that timber volumes will continue to grow through the two ports, while the need for value-added facilities, to support the shipments, is also expected to grow. Meanwhile, the port of Ipswich has reported a record-breaking year for handling timber imports, as 335,000m3 of timber passed across its quays during 2004, an increase of nearly 12% on the previous year’s volumes. Investments have been made in extensive hardstanding and warehousing to provide storage space for a wide range of forest products, and a state-of-the-art timber treatment centre, offering chromium- and arsenic-free wood preservative treatments.
At Grimsby and Immingham, ABP has invested £750,000 in constructing a 4,830m2 warehouse and in surfacing one hectare of land to provide high quality outside storage space at Humber Timber Terminals Ltd, which became operational in 2004. The company spent £1m on a new storage and distribution centre, in 2003, within a short distance of Immingham’s eastern quays, which will provide specialist storage facilities for high-value pulp and paper traffics. The ABP-Rowlinson Timber Terminal was opened in January 2004 and handles timber for a range of end uses, from fencing to construction timber.
South Wales
Traffic in forest products, through ABP’s South Wales Ports, has seen significant growth over the last three years. Combined tonnages imported/exported through the region have grown by 109% from 2001 levels of 201,000 tonnes, to 420,000 tonnes in 2004. Volumes imported through Newport have more than doubled during the period.
Swansea recently announced a £1.6m investment for a new storage facility, on the back of a new 15-year agreement with RKL Forest Products. In Newport, investments have been made to support Jewson/International Timber, as part of a £4.6m investment with Saint-Gobain Group, and future investments are being planned to develop the softwood and panel markets. The Port of Barry has invested in a road-going mobile crane for timber handling, following a new 10-year agreement with Scott Timber.
Elsewhere, with a programme of major investment in new facilities and equipment under way, Shoreham Port is offering a chance for shippers of forest and steel products to join the port’s owners in a strategic partnership to develop an efficient, modern import terminal.
The port has recently invested more than £1m in a state-of-the-art 100-tonne mobile harbour crane designed to handle both bulk and normal cargo and has taken an option on a second, similar crane. The port has replaced half its fleet of fork lift trucks with more up to date and larger capacity models.
Any of this equipment will be available for use by the port’s partner in the proposed terminal. In return, said chief executive Rod Johnstone, the port is looking for a partner to rent the area on a long-term, mutually beneficial agreement and guaranteed minimum throughput.
North American imports
Last year, the Port of Liverpool, owned by Mersey Docks & Harbour Co, handled around 650,000 tonnes of timber. According to business development manager John Rogers, one of the most significant trends has been the fall in imports of Canadian and North American timber and significant increases in hardwood and speciality timbers from elsewhere. “We have had two new container services into the port in the last two years, MSC and CMACGM,” he said. “Both of these do round-the-world services, so we have seen quite significant increases in Chinese plywood, because of the feeder services the companies operate.”
The company has invested in the building of 200,000ft2 of warehousing, specifically for forest products in the last four years. Some of these facilities are also rail connected. Other investment at the port and warehousing facilities has been in computerised systems, bar code readers and internet links to improve traceability of the products.
“We would like to handle a lot more timber,” said Mr Rogers. “But obviously you can’t alter where the port is and where the product is coming from. We do have some trade from the Baltics, but it doesn’t compensate for the Canadian products that are now shipped to the US, where suppliers get a better return.”
