Posted on: 4 May 2016
The Armitt Group, a UK shipping agent and specialist logistics company, has signed a heads of terms agreement to build a 120,000 ft.² multimodal terminal at London Thamesport. Freight could start moving through the new facility as early as autumn this year.
The long-term agreement was signed by The Armitt Group, and the port’s owners Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) Group.
Construction of the site and warehouse will start in early May with shipments due to begin later this year. Armitt Multimodal Terminal South, as it will be known, is the first in a three stage investment by the Armitt Group to develop similar facilities in the Midlands and North of the UK within the next three years.
The company already offers vessel agency, chartering services and bunker supplies throughout the UK, including Thamesport.
Nicholas Marshall, Commercial Director at Armitt, said: “What we are bringing to Thamesport, through this agreement, is our expertise in breakbulk handling, which is why Hutchison finds us attractive as a partner. We see this deal as being the start of a very long-term successful relationship with Hutchison Ports.
“We also see the deal as a great opportunity to open up a new supply chain corridor to service European and Far Eastern markets, and it is a crucial link in our plans to develop a fully integrated supply chain across the UK. The investment also ensures we have access to an excellent deep water, rail-connected and un-congested facility that is important to the needs of our clients,” he added.
Armitt also has plans to handle additional breakbulk cargo from the port and is currently in talks with Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) Group to secure an additional area to handle shipments of aggregates for consumption within the M25.
Apart from providing professional logistics services to the steel industry, Liverpool-based Armitt Group also provides shipbroking , chartering and vessel agency services nationwide. It has grown over the years to become a global supplier of marine fuels and lubricants and is one of the most successful and trusted logistics providers in the UK.
Thamesport was chosen by Armitt because of its deep-water berths as well as its excellent road and rail communication links to high population areas in the south east and unrivalled access along the corridor to the North West.
The port has, in the past, handled up to seven train loads of containers, each way, per day. Armitt is confident that in time, it can move up to two million tonnes of high quality steel products through its warehouse per year, by attracting up to 50 deep sea handy size vessels and up to 100 short sea port calls a year to the facility.
