UK-based Peel Ports Group is set to invest GBP100 million (USD135.5 million) to expand its national steel and metals multimodal hubs in a bid to enhance capacity and boost the efficiency of logistics.
Within this, Peel Ports is progressing with a GBP32 million (USD43.36 million) investment to add a further 140,000 sq ft (13,006.4 sq m) of storage at its port of Liverpool steel and metals terminals. Overall, investment will increase warehousing space at the ports of Liverpool and London Medway by 50 percent from the current 1 million sq ft (92,903 sq m) to create an additional 500,000 sq ft (46,451.5 sq m) of capacity.
Peel Ports also plans to create a second automated terminal in Liverpool dedicated to steel coils, along with a new automated terminal at London Medway in Sheerness – the latter of which saw a ro-ro berth unveiled earlier this year. These will include rail connectivity by a new inland rail terminal in the Midlands.
“This is a game-changing investment for us,” said David Huck, chief operating officer at Peel Ports Group. “Demand for steel and metals handling across our port group, and the UK in general, has risen sharply over the past five years and this will allow us to expand our support to the construction and manufacturing supply chain right across the country.
“This investment ensures we have the scale, speed, and specialist expertise to support our customers today and long into the future, helping to also address some of the storage and transportation issues the steel sector currently faces,” he added. “With expanded capacity and a growing, dedicated steel handling team, we can now move more product, more efficiently than ever before.”
A new team of specialist stevedores have already been brought into the port of Liverpool, with active recruitment underway for extra positions as well as the training of internal staff to enhance handling capability to meet the rise in demand.
