PD Ports take the next step on Teesport makeover
February 22, 2012
PD Ports has taken the next step in its programme to almost double its container handling capacity at Teesport, with the completion of the ground works.
The terminal operator has invested over £16 million as part of a £29 million project to expand the container terminal capacity from 235,000 to 450,000teu and position Teesport as the second largest container port in the north of the UK.
The work, which took a year, involved the reconstruction of more than 5ha of the container terminal area with heavy-duty paving designed to withstand the increased loads of container stacks and new rubber-tyre gantry cranes.
“We are very pleased with the progress so far,” said David Robinson, CEO of PD Ports Group.
“We are also well advanced in testing and implementing a new terminal operating system, which remains on schedule to be operational this summer.”
Teesport is also launching a fast gate service in April, to reduce waiting times for containers moved from ship to warehouse, to boost service to customers including Asda and Tesco.
PD Ports said it continued to see container volumes rise, despite the global economic downturn, and believed its promotion of the port-centric concept had contributed significantly to its success.
The concept involves establishing distribution centres and importing goods through ports closer to the final customer.
Unpacking, storing and picking goods at the port for onward delivery to stores directly benefits the supply chain at multiple levels. By eliminating road miles travelled from southern ports to distribution centres often based in the Midlands and the north of England, the environmental footprint and fuel consumption of the entire supply chain is reduced.
The operator added that the recent announcement that Clipper Logistics Group was to open a purpose-built distribution centre within the port hinterland would further support the port-centric operations and drive increasing volumes after it opened in the autumn.
Courtesy of IFW
