Port company to build new UK coal terminal

Associated British Ports today unveiled a £44.5m (€65.7m) expansion of its Humber terminal in a bid to meet the UK’s hunger for imported coal.

The group pledged to build a new coal facility at Immingham to serve the UK electricity supply industry after clinching deals with BHP Billiton, Drax Power and EDF Energy.

Ships laden with coal imports have been forced to delay entry to Immingham due to a lack of capacity, driving costs higher and helping to offset £3m (€4.4m) of savings from other parts of the business.

Construction of the new coal facility forms part of a £400m (€590m) overhaul of its UK ports over 10 years, which includes a new roll-off/roll-on ferry terminal at Immingham at a cost of £27.5m (€40.6m).

Details emerged as ABP, which handles around a quarter of the UK’s seaborne trade, posted a 7% rise in underlying profits to £65.2m (€96.2m) for the six months to June 30.

But costs of £44.9m (€66.3m) involved in its failed bid to develop a new container terminal on Southampton Water weighed heavily on bottom-line profits, which fell to £20.1m (€29.7m) from £64.2m (€94.7m) a year ago. The £750m (€1.1bn) project was rejected by the British government earlier this year.

ABP said long-term contracts secured in recent years enabled the group to increase turnover by 6% to £182.2m (€268.9m).

Business areas including cruise-ship calls, vehicle imports and exports, deep-sea container traffic and ro-ro ferries all increased during the first half.

Chief executive Bo Lerenius said the investment at Immingham would help to meet rising demand for imported coal in the UK and overcome a current lack of capacity.

Together with the new coal facility, ABP pledged to build a second deep-water berth at the port, with the first shipments due to take place in mid-2006.

ABP is currently waiting to hear whether the Department of Transport will give planning consent to the development of a third riverside terminal at the port of Hull.

The company employs around 3,000 people in the UK and US. It operates 20 ports in the UK including Newport, Plymouth and Cardiff.