A lack of available haulage at southern UK ports and a capacity crunch on intermodal services connecting them to the hinterland has led to some cargo diverting to the country’s northern ports.

The port of Liverpool, which is currently constructing a new terminal that will take ships of up to 12,000teu, has seen volumes rise as shippers look to avoid the increased costs of bringing in their products through competing ports in the south.

According to the port of Liverpool, over the last year UK freight forwarder Metro Shipping has “transferred several high-profile retail customers from Felixstowe and Southampton to Liverpool to realise the benefit of reduced inland haulage costs, especially for goods coming from the Far East and US”.

Peel Ports, which owns both Liverpool and the Manchester Ship Canal, and is developing a logistics corridor connecting two of the largest cities in the north of the UK, said that it expected to see “increased volumes over the next year as the shortage of adequate road and rail infrastructure space in the south continues to affect delivery patterns and drive up transport costs”.









Grant Liddell, business development director at Metro Shipping, said: “We’ve recognised the benefit of Liverpool as a strategic hub for our north-west and other northern clients, and have developed a proposition through the port which delivers cost reduction and greater reliability within the logistics element of customers’ supply chains.”

Mr Liddell told The Loadstar that one of Metro’s large clients – a large timber company – was moving its imports through Tilbury, but had now split its cargo flows and reduced costs.

“Fifty percent of the volumes were going up to Liverpool anyway, because it’s where their clients are and as Tilbury is a feeder port, it is effectively the same cost to ship to Liverpool.

“So we have put the product into Liverpool instead, where we can handle the cargo next to their client – and it’s made a big difference, because of the issues of obtaining haulage in the south and because rail services out of Felixstowe and Southampton have also become congested,” he said.

Peel Ports’ commercial director Patrick Walters said: “We believe that the port of Liverpool will increasingly be seen as a preferred option, as cargo owners discover the benefits of delivering their products and goods much nearer to their end destination. Liverpool’s location at the heart of the UK offers a distinct advantage, with over 65% of the population of the UK and Ireland living within a 150-mile radius of the city.







