New warehouse opened at ABP Newport to accommodate continued growth
ABP says a new £2.3million warehouse has been officially opened at ABP’s Port of Newport to accommodate continued growth in the agricultural sector.
The Port handles over 310,000 tonnes of agricultural products per year and the new 3,500 square metre warehouse, known as 20 Shed, will be used to store increasing volumes of cargo belonging to existing port customer, Feed Factors, which specialises in organic animal feed products.
ABP Newport has also invested in new weighbridges that have been installed outside the warehouse, located on the North Side of the South Dock, to help with operational efficiency during cargo handling.
Significant year-on-year growth has similarly been seen in the volume of cargo handled within some of the ports’ other specialist sectors, which, along with fertiliser and animal feed, include steel, aggregates, and timber.
In September 2016, ABP Newport handled over 230,000 tonnes of cargo, the highest amount handled in a single month at the port since April 2013. When lined up end-to-end the visiting vessels would have a combined length of almost 5km. This is the same distance as a straight line of travel from the Newport Transporter Bridge to the Caerleon Roman Fortress.
Chris Green, Port Manager for ABP Newport and Cardiff, said: “In the last two years, we’ve invested more than £15 million into the port’s operational equipment and infrastructure because we want to ensure that our customers have a safe and efficient service at the Port of Newport and that our facilities are market leading. Our continued investments help us to accommodate the increasing cargo volumes that we are experiencing.”
The steel sector at the port has also recently benefited from the opening of additional warehousing. ABP Newport is the UK’s second largest steel handling port and in September 2016 the port handled a record 107,425 tonnes of steel. The refurbishment of the Atlantic Shed warehouse, which was opened in early 2016, has provided an additional 7,200 square metres of undercover storage to the ports’ steel related customers in order to assist them with continued growth.
Key recent investments at the port include:
• £2.76 million on the redevelopment of Atlantic Shed to accommodate the port’s growing steel business
• £6.8 million investment in renewable energy projects
• £3.3 million on two new mobile harbour cranes
• £1.5 million on the refurbishment of three quayside cranes
• £1.7 million on a new rail bridge within the port
• £1.1 million on quay strengthening works
The Port of Newport handles around 1.85 million tonnes of cargo a year, supporting 3,000 local jobs and contributing £186 million per annum to the Welsh economy.