This Is Tees Valley This Is Tees Valley - Issue 1 2020 | Seite 43

Shipshape - Run by PD Ports, Teesport
plays a key role in the development of the
Northern Powerhouse.
Frans Calje - PD Ports' CEO.
more than 2,500 direct jobs and supporting
thousands more in the wider supply chain.
The port ranks as the fifth-largest container
port in the country and possesses the deepest
port facilities on the English east coast.
During that time, there has been
unprecedented unrest in the global economic
climate but in the years ahead, it is without
doubt that the UK’s reputation as a maritime
nation will remain of national importance.
The port industry has experienced its own
turbulence over the last ten years. Teesport
was no exception, losing a third of its
business overnight when the SSI steelworks
at nearby Redcar closed in 2015. Despite this
catastrophic impact, Teesport has continued
to experience a growth that has often
outstripped that of any other UK port.
The port has built an enviable reputation
in the UK maritime industry in recent
years, setting the benchmark for others to
follow in terms of environmental and energy
management, health and safety, people and
skills development as well as economic
development and job creation.
The port is growing exponentially at a rate
well above the rest of the industry - and has
big ambitions to continue growing. Starting
out as a small gateway container port only
a decade ago, today Teesport is the sixth-
largest UK port by tonnage, handling close to
30m tonnes of total cargo a year.
During this time, container volumes have
grown by in excess of 12% year-on-year even
during the recession, while average growth in
the container market has remained between
two and three %.
In the last four years, Teesport has
experienced a resurgence in its bulk handling
activity, once dominated by steel handling.
This focus, backed by a solid dedication
to customer service, gained international
recognition for Teesport at the prestigious
International Bulk Journal Awards in 2019.
Whilst steel handling remains very much
part of Teesport’s DNA, the port’s owner
has invested a six-figure sum to redevelop a
former steel export facility into a dedicated
bulk handling facility with direct undercover
rail access connected to the national
network.
Technology, infrastructure and skills are
vital to continuing this level of growth, and
advances in technology as well as further
investment in infrastructure development
are becoming ever more vital to the way
"
Over the last decade,
Teesport has
attracted more than
£1bn of investment to
the Tees Valley"
PD Ports develops its business.
In 2019, PD Ports officially opened a new
automated gate system to smartly manage
vehicle movements in and out of the port.
This investment, which was co-financed
with European funding (Connecting Europe
Facility), will help Teesport retain industry-
best efficiency standards for years to come.
Coupled with world-leading artificial
intelligence to manage port processes and
a dedicated rail terminal timed with vessel
arrivals, the automated gate system has
secured Teesport as one of the most efficient
and best connected ports in the country.
This vision and level of commitment is
not only for the benefit of the port operator’s
customers, but for the positive impact this
will have on the wider Tees Valley region and
its ability to be competitive globally.
“To be competitive, we need to be able to
offer customers multimodal connectivity,
flexibility and assurance,” says Frans Calje,
PD Ports' CEO.
“We are incredibly proud to have
trusted long-term partnerships with our
customers, which have been built on a
deep understanding of their needs and
those of the market as well as a shared
goal to improve our ability to be globally
competitive and to develop international
trade links.”
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