Feature, Freight News, Sea

Liverpool opens plywood terminal

[ October 30, 2014   //   Chris ]

Liverpool Plywood Terminal is due to open on 31 October, six months after Peel Ports struck a deal with Westfal-Larsen Shipping to bring combined shipments of steel and plywood into the Port of Liverpool on a new Far East service. The 80,000sq ft temperature-controlled quayside warehouse at Seaforth will radically reduce costs and increase efficiency for northern UK construction firms, says the port operator.

Plywood is not manufactured in the UK and demand from builders and merchants is met entirely from imports, predominantly from the Far East via the Port of Tilbury. The product is then distributed nationally by road or rail, adding cost and contributing to carbon emissions.

Roy Merryweather, business development manager at Peel Ports (pictured below) said: “This is an opportunity for us to increase our share of a growing market. The construction sector beyond London and the southeast is finally emerging from recession and expanding rapidly and as a result we have seen substantial UK-wide increase in demand for plywood.

“The Liverpool Plywood Terminal is a great supply chain solution because it allows imported plywood to be distributed to sites north of Birmingham without costly road and rail transport, allowing our customers to benefit from substantial cost and carbon savings. This dedicated new terminal to the quayside will allow for fast and easy discharge of the bulk commodity.”

The terminal will employ 30 existing members of staff.

Tags: liverpool, Peel Ports