RECORDS TUMBLE AS RKL PLY THEIR TRADE AT PORT OF SWANSEA
M.v. Thor Commander might not have drawn much attention as she entered the lock gates of Associated British Ports’ (ABP) Port of Swansea last Friday, (14 April 2006,) but within her hold lay a record-breaking cargo of 19,000 cu m of plywood – the single largest consignment of forest products to be handled in South Wales.
Shipped from the Far East aboard the 26,000 deadweight-tonne vessel for port customers RKL Plywood UK Ltd (RKL), the consignment included RKL’s first batch of plywood certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC). Forest products endorsed by the FSC are guaranteed to have been sourced from forests that have been managed in an “environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable manner.”Last week’s delivery eclipsed the region’s previous single largest shipment of timber – 16,000 cu m of plywood – that was imported by RKL through the Port of Swansea last year. RKL, who has been a port customer since 1999, has a 15-year agreement with ABP to ship guaranteed volumes of product through the port. In order to accommodate these volumes, ABP invested £1.7 million to extend the port’s Forest Products Terminal. The extension was completed in December 2005. Construction on a new UK headquarters for RKL is scheduled to start at the port next month, and it is expected that the new office will become operational in the summer.
John Fitzgerald, ABP Port Director, South Wales Ports, said:
“Last Friday’s record-breaking shipment not only reinforced Swansea’s position as one of South Wales’ leading plywood-handling ports, but also the long-standing relationship between ABP and RKL. The arrival of m.v. Thor Commander heralds the start of regular shipments of plywood to the port, which will have a positive effect on forest product volumes in 2006.”
Geraint Hawkes, Managing Director for RKL, said:
“The arrival of m.v. Thor Commander and its cargo coincided with the recent completion of the extension to the Port of Swansea’s Forest Products Terminal, highlighting the high level of co-operation that RKL and ABP have built up over the past seven years. With the completion of the new storage facilities and our new UK headquarters, RKL looks forward to a prosperous future at ABP’s Port of Swansea.”
 |
 |
Copyright © Associated British Ports Holdings PLC 2004. All rights reserved.
Contact us
