Special Report - Ports

Sep 14 2006 North East Vision

Big achievements and bigger ambitions on this busy river

The ports of Hartlepool and Middlesbrough are vital drivers for the local economy.

And plans are in the pipeline to make their impact even greater in the months and years to come. Major projects are in the planning stage - such as ambitions to create a £300m deep-sea container terminal at PD Ports at Teesport - which could create 5,500 jobs.

Others are already coming to fruition. A deal struck last year with supermarket group Asda to create a £20m import and distribution centre is already powering ahead.

With construction complete and lorryloads of goods already arriving, the site will be fully operational later this year.

Between them Teesport and Middlesbrough handle more than 56 million tonnes of cargo every year.

Middlesbrough's PD Ports, which owns Teesport and Hartlepool and is also the statutory harbour authority, is itself a major employer.

It has more than 500 staff on its books in activities ranging from cargo handling to marine operations.

The river and its ports are also home to many more companies.

Almost 30 companies run berths and terminal facilities along a 10.5-mile stretch of the River Tees.

Teesport is the UK's second largest port in terms of annual tonnage handled, with 6,000 ship arrivals each year, including vessels of up to 200,000 deadweight tonnes.

Tees Dock, the main cargo handling base in Teesport, handles some five million tonnes of cargo a year and offers easy access to the North Sea.

In addition to being one of the UK's major steel exporting ports, Tees Dock handles a mix of bulk cargoes, containers and roll on-roll off traffic, swiftly and with care.

The ports is a gateway to shipping on a global scale.

Regular sailings from Teesport serve destinations throughout the world, including Europe, the Far East, the East Mediterranean, the Indian sub-continent, Ethiopia, China and the USA.

PD Ports has ambitions to grow, notably through its plans to create a £300m deep-sea container terminal at Teesport.

The project, known as the Northern Gateway, could see 5,500 jobs created and provide Northern England with facilities to rival those of any UK competitor.

The plans would take pressure off the overcrowded port and rail network in the South and help save 70 million lorry miles by 2020.

Although the Government has already given the green light to port development in the South of England, PD Ports bosses are continuing to hammer home the case for the Tees.

So far, 2006 has been a busy year for the PD Ports team.

It has made significant investment in equipment to cope with the growing steel volumes handled at Tees Dock. New magnetic handling equipment, each set costing £50,000, can now lift 33 tonnes of steel slab at a time.

The magnets are used by the port on its 42-tonne forklift trucks. One of the benefits from the use of magnets, instead of more traditional forks, is that they eliminate the need to separate the stored slabs of steel by using timber.

PD Ports group chief executive officer David Robinson said: "This method is already successfully used in many ports around the world that handle large volumes of steel slab.

"The annual volume of steel slabs handled at Tees Dock is expected to rise dramatically up to 2.5m tonnes by 2007.

"This is due to increased volumes of steel passing through the port from the Redcar steel-making facility of Corus Teesside Cast Products (TCP).

"The magnets will help us to ensure both a quick and highly efficient turnaround for the trains bringing the slabs from Redcar into the dock area and for subsequent loading to the outbound ships.

"This investment is improving our handling equipment in a clear reflection of our commitment to innovation and new product development at our Tees Dock facility - as well as to constantly improving the service we offer our customers such as TCP."

In addition to the magnetic handling equipment, PD Ports has also invested £1.25m in a mobile harbour crane at Teesport to lift the steel aboard ships. The new crane was named John Vaughan, after the man who discovered iron ore in the nearby Cleveland Hills.

A major rail link with Teesside Corus steel operations has also opened.

PD Ports is also investing in people.

During 2005, the port invested heavily in its employees and in a quest to invest further in the skills of its workers, it launched a huge health and safety training scheme at Teesport.

The two-tier training scheme involved 440 Teesport employees, ranging from dock operators to senior management.

The purpose of the project was to enhance the health and safety skills of employees.

Earlier this year, PD Ports was recognised for the success of this training scheme and by doing so beat off the competition to win the Tees Valley Business Awards for Learning, Training and Skills Development, organised by The Journal and sister paper the Evening Gazette .

Working with other companies and organisations is also ensuring developments at the port.

American energy group Excelerate Energy plans to import natural gas supplies to Teesside.

The £30m Teesside GasPort will be a new natural gas import project at Teesport.

The company plans to ship natural gas which has been chilled to a liquid.

The liquefied natural gas, or LNG, is then processed back into gas on board the vessel and piped into the UK's national transmission system.

Mr Robinson said: "This new and exciting initiative to be constructed along the River Tees will result in the handling of LNG ships at Teesport for the first time.

"We are in full support of Excelerate and will be working hard with the two local councils to help ensure this £30m investment project is a success in time for the coming winter."

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Fresh pride forged in embattled plant

Steel making and shipping have long been at the heart of Teesside's industrial scene. And now PD Ports and steel group Corus are working together to ensure long-term security and economic growth. Corus has opened a vital direct rail link from its Teesside Cast Products plant to Teesport.

This is a key part of its aims to become a world leading exporter of steel. About £2m has been invested in to the development, which includes a fleet of new wagons.

In April 2003, Corus dropped the bombshell that steel from Teesside would no longer be "required for the group's internal demand".

To survive it needed to export 3m tonnes of slabs a year.

Many feared this would sound the death knell for TCP, which employs 1,700 people.

But its fortunes have changed, thanks to a 10-year consortium deal between TCP and global steel companies Swiss-based Duferco, Marcegaglia of Italy and Imsa, which has bases in North, Central and South America, and Dongkuk Steel Co, of South Korea.

This year, TCP will export 1.8m tonnes, rising to 2.6m in 2007.

TCP managing director Jon Bolton said Teesside was the largest exporter of steel in the UK and one of the biggest in Europe. "The rail link is a gateway to the rest of the world," he said.

PD Ports' group chief operating officer Jerry Hopkinson said: "This is another very important step forward both for us and Teesside Cast Products and for the Tees Valley as a whole."

PD Ports has invested several million pounds in cranes, mobile plant and its internal rail infrastructure to improve its steel exporting abilities.

The rail link is cutting the cost of moving slab to the dock by more than a quarter, with 13,700 tonnes of slab being loaded a day - an increase of 140%. Mr Bolton said: "I believe we are in the top three in the world in terms of tonnes loaded per day." Since January 2005 TCP has:

• Dispatched 130,772 stabs to destinations in the UK.

• Shipped 21,109 slabs to Italy and Germany, 27,576 slabs to Belgium and the USA, 16,591 slabs to USA and Mexico and 8,643 slabs to South Korea. The rail link, direct from TCP's slab yard to Teesport, is part of the £40m investment by the consortium. Riccardo Peroggi, of Duferco, said: "This is the first tangible and marked step in the long and hard way to bring Teesside Cast Products back to Tees pride."

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Companies on 10 miles of river push beyond new frontiers

The River Tees and its ports are home to almost 30 companies. They run berths and terminal facilities along a 10.5-mile stretch of water. One of those is transport and logistics supplier AV Dawson.

With its berths on the Tees, rail terminals, road transport fleet and warehousing, the company's roots were traditionally based in steel and chemicals.

But a two-year strategic push into new growth markets of high-quality product and cargo handling is now starting to pay off.

Through a mixture of traditional freight forwarding, stock and order management systems, extensive database reporting and communication links, AV Dawson has transferred skills developed in operations to wider geographical markets and product sectors.

Current activities include the forwarding, receiving and de-vanning at Middlesbrough of more than 2,000 containers a year from Italy containing white goods, semi-manufactured products and goods for the food and drink sector.

It has forged links with a major retailer to provide medium-term storage.

New markets which AV Dawson has entered into include biofuels and bio-mass - both major growth areas on Teesside.

Because of the location and scale of its river berths and rail infrastructure, the company can handle liquid and dry bulk cargo, which could build to more than 500,000 tonnes a year by the end of 2008.

And this year the company has also engaged the services of the Port of Liverpool to operate a rail-served steel coil and sheet warehouse from which more than 6,000 unit loads will be dispatched annually into the Irish market.

This is managed by a newly formed Irish department at AV Dawson.

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How Asda's new import centre saves five trips to the moon

A massive distribution centre at Teesport is helping the region become a world logistics player - and bring a major boost to the local economy. The new Asda import centre is set to become fully operational by the end of the year.

By that time it is expected 150 staff will be employed, plus 25 sub-contract drivers and 18 other sub-contracted workers including security, caterers and cleaners.

It will service the company's major distribution centres throughout the country who, in turn, service local stores.

And by having the depot based on Teesside, it will reduce impact on the environment.

Importing through the Tees rather than southern ports will save two million road miles a year.

Containers carrying products from a variety of international destinations will be delivered to the port, allowing the supermarket to distribute non-food products, such as clothing, electrical and electronic goods, to stores throughout Britain.

Asda's move to Teesport is seen as a massive boost for the campaign by port owner PD Ports to persuade the Government to give the go-ahead for expansion of a deep sea container terminal on the Tees.

David Robinson, chief executive of port owner PD Ports, said the development of the import centre at Teesport was a landmark deal for the shipping industry.

"This facility will handle the vast majority of general merchandise for Asda in the UK," he added.

"It also represents a key boost to the local economy, providing more than 200 new jobs to the Tees Valley.

"Our objective is to create a truly international logistics hub at Teesport and this is the first step."

Phase two of Asda's plans for Teesport, in which the company has so far invested £21m, includes a 150,000sqft depot - currently under construction - with a 200,000sqft unit in what could be a third phase on a site covering more than 24 acres at Teesport.

Part of the American retail giant Wal-mart, Asda has signed a 30-year lease with PD Ports with an option to extend for a further 20 years.

Tony Page, non-food director at Asda, said: "This is great news for the economy in the North-East. Not only are we creating new jobs, but we are also paving the way for other retailers to follow our lead.

"The facility will also enable us to dramatically reduce our impact on the environment. We will save two million road miles a year - equivalent to five trips to the moon!"