12 | Tees Business
Serving the Teesside Business Community | 13
HOW WELL DO YOU
KNOW PD PORTS?
Teesside is one of the UK’s main industrial centres, globally renowned for its chemical
production and offshore activities, as well as engineering and manufacturing facilities,
which typically dominate the landscape.
T
he River Tees connects many
of these sectors facilitating the
movement of goods destined for
import and export. At the heart of
this activity is Teesport.
Owned and operated by PD Ports,
Teesport is the third largest port in the UK by
tonnage, seeing around 40m tonnes annually,
providing a vital trading link with both
mainland European and global markets.
Teesport employs around 550 people,
many of which live within a three mile radius
of the port. PD Ports is one of the largest
employers in Teesside with operations in
Middlesbrough, Billingham, Hartlepool and
Redcar.
The port handles both bulk and container
cargo. Much of Teesport’s growth in the bulk
sector is a result of its strong relationship
with SSI UK to export steel produced at its
plant in Redcar. Since the blast furnace was
reopened in 2012, PD Ports has handled over
7 million tonnes of steel - the equivalent to
2,885 Transporter Bridges.
The port has seen considerable growth in
container volumes of over 30% in the last
five years and, as a group, has invested more
than £30m in 2014 to enhance and expand its
facilities. This includes significant investment
at its No 1 Quay at Teesport, enabling larger
vessels to be handled at any level of tide and
the construction of a dedicated rail terminal.
The container terminals at Teesport have
the capacity to handle around 500,000 TEU
(twenty-foot equivalent) which, spread out
in a straight line, would take over 25 days to
walk end-to-end. The port’s container traffic
is shipped around the world through global
shipping lines, connecting Teesport to the
major hub ports of Europe and more than 13
strategic markets.
PD Ports is one of the largest
employers in Teesside with
operations in Middlesbrough,
Billingham, Hartlepool and
Redcar.
The state-of-the-art terminal operating
system used at Teesport enables PD Ports
to identify each container’s owner and
stack these appropriately in the yard to
provide an efficient and responsive service
to customers. This technical intelligence is
complemented by a dedicated and skilled
workforce.
Further services available to customers
are delivered through PD Ports’ dedicated
logistics business, PD Portcentric Logistics.
This ranges from storage in a port-located
warehouse, transportation to customerowned facilities or re-working of cargo.
PD Ports currently work with Taylors of
Harrogate to facilitate the management
of its Yorkshire Tea brand. In 2014 a new
warehouse was opened with Taylors at PD
Portcentric Logistics’ site in Billingham as a
larger alternative to Teesport Commerce Park
where goods were previously stored.
PD Ports invested £2.5m in the new facility
giving Taylors a 105,000 sq. ft. space that is
used to store the product and also to collate
large bags of tea from different origins which
will then assist in the creation of the blends
at the Taylors headquarters. The tea imported
annually through Teesport equates to 4.5
billion cups of tea – that’s a fresh cuppa for
two third of the world’s population.
As well as operating a thriving port and a
successful logistics business, PD Ports is the
statutory harbour authority for the River Tees,
from the Tees Barrage to the Tees Fairway
Buoy at the opening to the North Sea. The
company is responsible for managing the
river traffic for the ports of Teesport and
Hartlepool, ensuring safe navigation and
maintaining the required channel depth.
All the services that PD Ports provides
on Teesside are integral to the UK ports
industry, as well as the regional and
national economies. The continued growth
and investment in the port’s people and
infrastructure will enable Teesport to expand
its opportunities on a global scale, ensuring a
sustainable and bright future for the region’s
port.
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