PD Ports Opens Teesport Facility

Terminal operator PD Ports has officially opened a new bulk handling facility at Teesport, paving the way for increased throughput at the site.

The facility is the culmination of more than £9 million of investment and sits on the site of a former Steel Export Terminal. Extensive renovation and refurbishment work has been performed on the warehousing facility with 300,000 square feet of capacity.

“The opening of the Teesport Bulks Terminal marks an important milestone in the continued revival of the Tees Valley. This new terminal will increase trade, create new jobs for the region and help boost the UK’s economic recovery as we emerge from the worst effects of the coronavirus pandemic,” Simon Clarke, minister for regional growth and local government, said at the opening.


Regional Recovery

The new terminal features seven walled bays, capable of storing a range of bulk products, and offers direct connection to covered rail access.

“In 2015, disaster struck the Tees Valley as the steelworks collapsed after more than 150 years of steelmaking. Overnight the River Tees and this region lost one of its main component parts and we, as PD Ports, lost one-third of our business. Thanks to an ongoing journey of diversification, we have been able to rise, almost symbolically, from our own ashes into something that is now far larger in 2020 than it ever was in 2015,” said Frans Calje, CEO of PD Ports.

Teesport is the UK’s third-largest port by volume, handling more than 40 million tonnes per year with more than 5,000 vessel calls. It is located in North Yorkshire, about one mile inland from the North Sea.  


Transition from Steel

The new warehousing at Teesport will initially be utilized by Glencore Agriculture, and follows the expansion of steel handling at nearby Groveport by PD Ports last year in partnership with All Steels Trading.

“PD Ports has proven its adaptability in transitioning from steel products to a wide range of bulk products, and I have to commend the work they have done, alongside key customers, in delivering a remarkable change for PD Ports and the Tees Valley. It is providing a future for the port and the region as a whole,” said James Maw, UK managing director at Glencore.

A subsidiary of Brookfield Asset Management, PD Ports has owned and operated the site since 1995 and developed into a major breakbulk hub serving the North Sea. The firm is an exhibitor at Breakbulk Europe.

---