UK NORTH EAST\\\


It will probably be a while before PD Ports’ Teesport again approaches the 55 million-tonne peak in traffic hit in 2005, but the reopening of the local steel plant by Thailand’s SSI will certainly nudge it towards that target, says Jerry Hopkinson. As managing director for bulks, ports and logistics, he is enthusiastic about the potential from the reborn company, which is now employing 2,000 people in a region where jobs have been hard to find lately. “From a standing start, they’re


now producing 2.5m tonnes, in just about a year, and their run rate is now around 3.5mt.” As Teesport also imports the raw material for the plant – coal, iron ore and scrap metal – the benefit to the port in tonnage terms is even greater – about 4m tonnes. Looking further ahead, SSI plans to ramp up production even further, to perhaps 4mt or even more, “so the impact on this region will be very profound,” says Hopkinson. “Pretty soon, Teesport will be back to about 40mt a year. It may be some way off the record, but in common with the rest of the UK ports industry, we’ve suffered in the recession. But unlike many other ports, we’ve seen some pretty pivotal growth recently.” Just up the road, PD Ports’


smaller port of Hartlepool was the consolidation and construction point for the Tees Bay Wind Farm, an impressive array of offshore windmills visible from the seafront at Redcar. While other ports have to rely on computer graphics and theoretical models to display their abilities, this was a real-life demonstration of what the port is capable of. Hopkinson explains: “We managed to complete the load-out and assembly without any undue issues other than the weather.” (To the delight of local surfers but the annoyance of the windfarm builders, the whole of the east coast was subjected to a strong and prolonged swell at the


crucial moment.) “So we were able to establish


some real credentials. The Tees Bay scheme was a 27-turbine scheme that used all our resources.” It will stand Hartlepool in good


stead ,when and if the Government gives the go-ahead for major investment in offshore wind. In recent weeks it has published a proposed framework for the industry setting out likely levels of remuneration to renewable energy generators and while it doesn’t answer all the industry’s questions, it goes some way to instilling confidence in an industry which has been waiting for clarity for a long time now. There are those who still


have doubts over just how committed the Government is to published environmental targets, but the new framework is a step in the right direction and the Tees Bay scheme is an excellent demonstration of what can be achieved. The industry, Hopkinson reckons, could create a further 3-5,000 long-term, highly skilled jobs in an area that has been suffering from endemic double-digit unemployment. As with offshore, so with onshore


energy, another sector of great interest to PD Ports and Teesport. Again, the power generators and the ports industry needs some certainty from Government over future energy policy before it commits to building what are quite bespoke


and certainly capital-


intensive facilities. It would need deep water berths, continuous ship unloaders, covered storage and good rail access – all of which Teesport can provide – and an investment of around £10m. Here, the Government has


clarified its policy to some extent; it sees burning biomass as a medium-term solution to green energy production, till around 2027, though probably not beyond. This would though be a sufficiently


long-term horizon to allow the investment to be made, Hopkinson considers. The port is sufficiently confident


to go out to tender for the necessary investments in berth conversion and equipment purchase, but it will not actually spend the money until it has an unequivocal green light, in the shape of a signed contract and firm financial backing. Containers are at


least


independent of Government policy decisions and this has in fact been Teesport’s strongest-growing traffic. Not historically known as a box hub, the port’s box business has grown 85% since 2005, largely on the back of PD Ports’ pioneering work in Port Centric Logistics. “Yes, it’s a word you hear from


ports all the time now,” Hopkinson says. “But in Teesport we really have walked the walk and over the past few years and we’ve worked with a number of major retailers to build facilities, for companies like Asda, Tesco, Taylors of Harrogate and Clipper Logistics.” With signs that the recession


may at last finally be over, companies are once again looking at their logistics strategies, “though it’s still a very, very challenging environment and there are still difficulties in raising finance for major projects. Companies also need to ask themselves if they are ready to make a fundamental change to the way they operate their supply chains.” Hopkinson doesn’t see his, or PD


Ports’ role as ‘selling’ Port Centric Logistics. He would, he says, rather credit large, sophisticated companies with the logistical nous to decide whether port centric logistics will work for them – and there are many instances where it doesn’t. They also need to decide whether it is viable to split off their North-bound business from the rest of their traffic, although advances in IT systems do make this a more viable proposition. (Significantly, PD Ports is one


Port of Tyne are such furrow-ly good chaps


The Port of Tyne stepped in to help farmer Peter Alderslade fly the flag for England at the World Ploughing Championships on 19- 20 July in Alberta, Canada. Peter, who farms with his brother Geoff at Mundles Farm in East Boldon,


needed to move his tractor and plough 10,000 miles to Canada and Tynegrain, one of the Port of Tyne’s 100 commercial tenants approached the port on his behalf to see if they could help. Tynegrain’s managing director,


Gary Bright, said: “Thanks to their expertise and world-wide shipping connections, the Port of Tyne has been able to respond readily and easily to this unique request.” In the event, Mr Alderslade came in 12th overall in his category.


DFDSSEAWAYS.COM/FREIGHT


Tessport: Employing 2,000 people in a place where jobs are still scarce


Issue 6 2013


Steel strengthens Teesport traffic figures


23


companies – or possibly, a specific segment of a large retailer’s business like e-commerce fulfilment. “Certainly, if we could gain signs of clear intentions from potential users, we could build something like that.” Given that there is a shortage of high-quality dedicated logistics space in the North-East, the time could be ripe for such a development. Growth in the Port Centric field


of the first to install Red Prairie management soſtware for all its traffic, a system more commonly associated with sophisticated warehouse management and logistics than ports until now.) PD Ports’ ‘Project P’ scheme has


been designed to help companies make the decision with a ‘ready reckoner’. A lot of other ports, he considers,


don’t really ‘get’ Port Centric: “Fundamentally, it’s about making the port a fundamental part of


your supply chain, in just the same way that one of your own distribution centres would be. And as a port, you need almost a degree of humility, working with all the other shareholder interests.” Hopkinson is convinced that


there will be more Port Centric business for Teesport soon but, given the very significant investments needed for a big shed operation for a single major retailer, it might take the shape of a shared user facility for several


will also underpin development of the Northern Gateway in-river terminal for container ships of up to 8-9,000teu, which Hopkinson insists is still very much a live plan, with all the necessary approvals still in place. Indeed, the recent enhancement to the existing container facility is essentially the first stage of Northern Gateway, as it involved developing the same back-land area. The port has also upgraded


its handling equipment from reachstackers to RTGs and installed a Navis management system.


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