Scottish fresh produce importers and exporters will benefit from a significant increase in capacity at the country’s largest container terminal at the Port of Grangemouth.
Port owner Forth Ports is extending the electricity supply from 126 specialist power supply points to 432. As refrigerated containers – or ‘reefers’ – require power immediately upon arrival, this move will “significantly increase” the port’s reefer handling capacity.
The move, which is due for completion by October, responds to increased market demand for Scottish exports, particularly potatoes, cheese and fish. The investment will also maintain the Port of Grangemouth’s position as the largest reefer facility in Scotland, Forth Ports said.
It follows the announcement in June of a major investment programme at the Port of Grangemouth to increase capacity for conventional container and reefer storage, and the commissioning of a feasibility study into deepening the shipping channel within the port to handle larger vessels.
Maersk Line’s operations manager for the UK and Ireland, Mark Cornwell, said: “Shipments of temperature controlled products are a critical and growing part of our business in Scotland and this exciting development ensures that Grangemouth will be well placed to support demand growth in this segment.
“As a long term customer of both Forth Ports and the Port of Grangemouth we have seen how they have been able to understand and support both our needs and those of our customers and we look forward to collaborating further to encourage future growth in the Scottish economy.”
Stuart Wallace, Forth Ports’ director of Scottish operations, said Scotland’s “growing reputation” across the world has led to increased demand for reefer capacity. “That’s good for the Scottish economy and good for business and we’re committed to investing in support of this growth through increasing our reefer capacity at the Port of Grangemouth,” he said.
Forth Ports owns eight commercial ports in the UK – Tilbury on the Thames, Dundee on the Firth of Tay and six on the Firth of Forth – Leith, Grangemouth, Rosyth, Methil, Burntisland and Kirkcaldy.
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