Peel Ports has announced that, ahead of the completion of construction, space at a new 237,000ft² multi-purpose warehouse at the Port of Liverpool has sold out ‘due to high demand likely resulting from challenging growth conditions in the UK’.
Half of this space was assigned to grain and, according to Peel Ports, this space was fully booked up by importers while construction was still ongoing.
It confirmed that ‘the first of two vessels successfully offloaded the Alexandra Dock facilityâs first shipment of grain on 12 July, with a second shipment arriving later in the month’. When full, it says the shed will ‘accommodate approximately 90,000 tonnes of cargo’.
Peel Ports invested £25 million in the development of the warehouse, which was designed specifically for ‘the efficient storage of dry bulks’.
Phil Hall, Mersey port director at Peel Ports Group, said: “Weâre seeing very strong demand for storage at ports rather than further inland â in this case, it is due to the wet weather earlier in the year impacting the harvest, making the job much harder for UK farmers, and so as a nation weâre having to import more grain and animal feed to keep up with demand.
“But owners of all cargo types say theyâre looking for efficiencies at every point in the supply chain, and we need to be responsive to that. Investing in and creating infrastructure thatâs essential for the future has always been at the heart of our strategy, and this is a perfect example of us doing that â and good news for our customers as they look to reduce costs and improve reliability.”
Peel Ports is hoping to the UK’s largest roof-mounted solar energy system at the Port of Liverpool by installing ‘up to 63,000 solar panels’ at the site. The new warehouse will support this ambition, with work having already begun on the installation of ‘over 6,000 solar panels’ on the warehouseâs roof.
