PD Ports confirms investment in Teesport

Frans Calje, PD Ports’ MD Unitised said, ‘I am delighted to announce that we will shortly commence work on the expansion of our container handling facilities at Teesport, which signifies a long term investment in our unitised business, on the back of major growth opportunities. This will further improve performance and productivity for the port’s growing number of customers.

‘This is the first phase of expanding Teesport’s container terminal capacity to 450,000 TEU, from its current capacity of 235,000 TEU, an investment of over £15 milion. Subsequent phases will be investigated subject to volume growth and market stability with the total project potentially involving some £29m. The port’s overall strategy is to expand port wide capacity, including RoRo traffic, to at least 650,000 TEU, which will position Teesport as a major player in the container market.

‘In the first six months of 2010 we have achieved significant success at our Teesport container terminals, handling 129,000 TEU, an incredible growth of over 62% in volume compared to the first six months of 2009. PD Ports has, yet again, out-performed the market place in what is still a turbulent time for businesses globally.’

The first phase, which is expected to commence in November and last approximately 10 months, will focus on the reconfiguring of the existing container terminal layout, including all associated civil works and installation of new rubber tyre gantry cranes. This will be supported by the implementation of a sophisticated terminal management system.

Once fully complete, it is estimated some 50 new jobs will be created within the terminal together with a further 200 new jobs to support the overall supply chain.