Port of Liverpool receives £3m investment

Peel Ports has announced a UK£3 million (US$4.5 million) investment to upgrade its existing steel terminal at the UK Port of Liverpool’s Gladstone dock.

The Liverpool Steel Terminal will have an automated warehouse and interactive customer web portal, allowing customers to have round-the-clock instant access to the ordering process. Real time stock availability, precision coil selection and a vehicle booking system will give customers best value for money by minimising paperwork, handling, and haulier turn-around time, Peel said.

The facility will benefit from the latest-generation CareGo warehouse optimisation and crane automation technology; it will also include an automatic weighing facility. The new terminal will also have instant customer reporting, which will mean that customers will be able to track their order in real-time from ship to door.

Gary Hodgson, Peel Ports managing director, said, “This is a particularly exciting investment for Peel Ports because it puts us at the leading edge of steel storage and distribution. No other port in the UK is currently able to offer a comparable service.

“Coupled with the Port of Liverpool’s advantageous location in terms of its proximity to UK manufacturing, we are confident that we are making a very important investment that will ultimately offer our customers substantial cost benefits.”

Coil capacity at the new terminal will be 350 thousand tonnes. Segregated storage and quarantine locations include the capacity for dehumidification and temperature controlled facilities. The Liverpool Steel Terminal will be open for business in April 2013.