ABP’s ports in East Anglia keep agricultural products moving
Despite the challenges presented by the pandemic this year, Associated British Ports (ABP)’s ports of Ipswich and King’s Lynn have continued to play a vital role in keeping agricultural products moving in support of local businesses and farmers in East Anglia, ABP said in its release.
Since 23rd March, the Port of Ipswich has reported handling nearly 1.2 million tonnes of cargo and following the discharge of over 13,000 tonnes from MV Sten Bergen in September, its cargo-handling total has reached over 1.6 million this year.
Paul Ager, ABP Divisional Port Manager – East Coast, said: “Over the summer months alone, our Ports of King’s Lynn and Ipswich have welcomed 56 vessels, which have exported nearly 200,000 tonnes of agricultural products.
“This is a truly impressive amount and I would like to thank our teams on the ground and our customers for working hard to keep cargo flows moving efficiently.”
The Port of Ipswich’s status as the UK’s number one export port for agricultural products has recently been reaffirmed by the Department for Transport (DfT)’s Annual UK Port Freight statistics released in August this year. This is a position that Ipswich has held consistently since 2005 for outward traffic, which includes domestic and international traffic.
Since July 2020, many of ABP’s leading customers in the agricultural sector have seen the Port of Ipswich handle a significant flow of products such as barley, maize, soya and wheat, including over 120,000 tonnes for Clarksons and more than 152,000 tonnes for COFCO.
