Archives



Freight News, Sea


Port investment back to pre-Pandemic levels, says BPA

[ January 4, 2022   //   ]

UK investment has topped pre-Pandemic levels at over £1 billion with many cargo sectors returning to growth, says the British Ports Association.
Continued depressed demand for fuel is masking a strong recovery across multiple cargo segments, it says, swelled by several big projects such as the £300m fourth berth at DP World’s London Gateway. Significant investment in modernising port machinery, pilot vessels and buildings adds at least another £75m to the total, although this is almost certainly an underestimate as the value or existence much of this investment is not routinely published.
Other notable port infrastructure investments announced this year include a £25m development of the Port of Lowestoft’s Eastern Energy Facility, a £50m expansion at the Port of Cromarty Firth, Teesport’s new £9.2m bulks terminal, the start of a new £60m programme of works to redevelop areas at Pembroke and £40m of investment in the Port of Leith by Forth Ports
Port infrastructure investment in 2020 remained strong at over £600m despite the pandemic. Notable projects include Harwich Haven’s £120m channel deepening for the Port of Felixstowe, which is currently underway. The Harwich channel deepening will mean that the biggest container ships in the world will be able to access Felixstowe, which handles over a third of the UK’s containers.
BPA is publishing analysis of new experimental ‘live’ trade statistics from the Government. UK port volumes. Removing liquid bulk from the statistics reveals that the volume of other combined cargo types, including containers, timber, and steel, looks set to be at its highest for the last four years.

British Ports Association chief executive Richard Ballantyne was awarded an OBE in the New Years Honours list. It was in recognition of his services to the maritime industry, helping to keep the country supplied and ensuring that the needs of the industry were well understood by government.
He also worked closely with government to represent the industry through the process of the UK’s departure from the EU and ensure that the border continued to operate as smoothly as possible.

Tags: