Ambassadors representing Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have made a return visit to Associated British Ports‘ (ABP) Port of Ipswich.
Last year Kaja Tael of Estonia, Jánis Dripe of Latvia and Aurimas Taurantas of Lithuania were guests of honour at a reception held at ABP’s Waterfront Conference Centre.
This year they were entertained at the Old Custom House by ABP Ipswich port manager, Rob Smith.
ABP Ipswich already has well-established trading links with the Baltic states, handling large volumes of forest products annually. This is set to grow even stronger with Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania’s accession to the EU.
Mr Smith said: “This year, we have already witnessed rapid growth in Kursui Linija’s weekly container service, which connects the port’s West Bank Terminal with Klaipeda in Lithuania and Riga in Latvia.
“Last year, we handled in excess of 250,000m3 of Baltic timber. With the Baltic countries joining the EU, I have every expectation that we will see a further increase in import volumes of the forest products, as well as fertilisers, that we currently receive from these countries.”
