Liverpool overtakes Forth in ports’ battle for market share
The Port of Liverpool continues to make headway in choppy waters, as it increased its market share in the first quarter of the year.
For the first time in nearly five years, it overtook Forth, in Scotland, in terms of tonnage handle, to rise to sixth busiest port by tonnage moved.
Official figures from the Department for Transport showed that Liverpool enjoyed its best market share for tonnage since quarterly records began in 2000 for the period January-March.
In handling 7.72m tonnes, it captured 6.2% of the UK market. It also showed a huge increase of 25% on the first quarter of 2010, which was badly affected by the closure of Stanlow.
However, it was still 3% above 2009 levels, which was double the growth seen at all UK ports in that period.
Gary Hodgson, managing director of Peel Ports Mersey, welcomed the underlying trend that the data highlighted.
He said: “It should be noted that any comparison with Q1 2010 should take into account the closure at Stanlow during that period; however, even when stripping out this effect, the trend is still positive – as demonstrated by our share of the UK market.”
Freight trade is also measured by a second factor – the number of units handled. Liverpool saw a 5% reduction on the first quarter of 2010, down 12,000 to 247,000 units.
Mr Hodgson attributed this drop, and more, to a single factor.
“In terms of unitised traffic, our net reduction is reflective of the loss of the DFDS Dublin service at the end of January from Twelve Quays,” he said. “This masks an underlying volume improvement on all other RORO [roll-on, roll-off] routes and continued growth in the container terminal.”
DFDS had operated 12 sailings a week on its Birkenhead-Dublin route but blamed “considerable overcapacity” in the market when it pulled the route at the start of the year.
Its difficulties were indicative of the ongoing problems in the maritime sector, with trade remaining well below pre-recession levels across UK ports.
Mr Hodgson added: “Overall, current trading conditions remain difficult, with a general lack of confidence in the market as a whole. This can be seen with tonnages throughout the UK remaining stable but subdued, especially on Irish Sea routes.
“From the Port of Liverpool’s perspective, the fact that we have seen growth in our market share helps to provide us with cautious optimism, and that demonstrating the value that Liverpool adds to the total supply chain is winning us new business.”
The Port of Liverpool’s owner, Peel Ports, has ambitious long-term plans for its maritime portfolio, which also includes the Manchester Ship Canal.
It is looking to invest £500m in the next 20 years in a move it forecasts will see the volume of trade passing through the port and Ship Canal increase by 70% by 2030.
Its plans include developing land that currently forms the Seaforth Nature Reserve, a Site of Special Scientific Interest and home to thousands of sea birds.
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