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IRELANd

ISSUE 1 2010

Farmers rescue Belfast

A new dry bulk transit shed strengthens Belfast’s dominant position

Belfast Harbour saw its tonnage throughput fall by 4.4% to 15.7m tonnes last year, making it the best performing Irish port. Container volume was down another

15.8% after shrinking 5% in 2008, a decline which has seen BG Freight and rival Eucon reluctantly sharing services. BG Freight was going in to Belfast’s VT3 terminal and Eucon into Belfast Container Terminal but now they share a twice-weekly service from Antwerp which drops and picks up at both facilities. The slowdown in manufacturing and construction led to a startling 49% fall in breakbulk movements such as cement and steel through Belfast in 2009. Truck movements also shrank for the

second year in succession, despite Norfolkline’s addition of new vessels in April and September, improving efficiency and reliability on the Belfast-Heysham route, and Stena Line’s addition of the Stena Navigator between Belfast and Stranraer in November. Decreases in ro-ro and lo-lo business were

largely offset by double-digit growth in the dry bulk trades during a strong year for the agri-food sector. “We always were the main grain and animal

feed hub for Ireland, but we have consolidated our position,” says Port of Belfast commercial director Joe O’Neill. “We opened a 55,000 tonne transit storage facility, completing £30 million of investment in this sector over the last five years. “We’re pushing further into the Irish

Republic, benefiting from the strength of the Euro there to overcome our geographical handicap. The Northern Irish food sector had a really strong year in terms of supplying meat, poultry and dairy products to UK supermarket groups.” Possibly related to this, Belfast saw a 14%

increase in fertiliser imports. O’Neill reports a “very strong start to this year”, with severe winter weather boosting imports of grain, animal feeds and heating oil. “Larger manufacturers are also beginning

to pick up again,” O’Neill says. “We’re seeing the effect of that through raw materials coming in, though we’re not yet seeing exports flowing across the quay.” The port enlarged Stormont Wharf last

year to create Ireland’s longest deepwater berth, more than 1km long with depth of 10.5 metres, shared by bulk and cruise vessels.

Singapore spreads its Irish wings

Singapore Airlines Cargo has extended its cargo handling agreement with Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) in the UK and Ireland with a new contract covering Dublin, Shannon and Cork. This is in addition to the

airline’s decision to renew its existing handling contract with WFS at Manchester Airport for a further three years. The companies have

a longstanding working relationship. In Manchester, WFS provides cargo reception and handling services for the airline’s B777 flights to Singapore via Munich, which increased from three to six flights a week for the summer schedule. Irish customers also have

access to Singapore Airlines’ B747-400 freighters from Heathrow, as well as daily passenger departures from Frankfurt and Amsterdam. Simon Coomber, manager

UK and Ireland for the carrier, said: “We have a good partnership with WFS in Manchester that works really well. They understand our products and customer service requirements and work well with our own team.

“They were also able to

provide the cost and quality we needed. In Ireland, WFS provided us with the three- station solution we wanted and, again, we have trust in the local team’s awareness of our product and their professionalism.” Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36