London, 11 June 2008 – PD Ports has announced it has reached a new agreement with ABP in respect of its ongoing operation of Hull Container Terminal (HCT).
The new agreement for up to eight years took effect from 1st May 2008 and over the next 12 months will include an investment by PD Ports of some £4 million. This investment will implement specialist IT systems, refurbish the existing STS cranes and reconfigure the terminal layout to further improve the efficiency of the facility.
Jerry Hopkinson, group chief operating officer of PD Ports, said: “This is excellent news. We are delighted to have reached an agreement with ABP in respect of PD Ports’ ongoing operation of Hull Container Terminal. This is also important in order to give improved service to Samskip MCL, our most important customer at HCT.
“We have operated in Hull since 1990 and during that last 18 years we have seen considerable growth in volumes. In 2005 we handled circa 125,000 units and by April 2008 this had grown to 150,000+ units, of which the majority was brought in through Samskip. This is great news for
PD Ports and staff who work at Hull Container Terminal.
“We will now focus on delivering the investment in new equipment, specialist IT systems and improved terminal layouts to ensure the service we provide to our customers is best in class.†concluded Hopkinson.
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Notes to Editors: June 2008
• PD Ports Limited was formed following the successful takeover of PD Ports plc by Babcock and Brown Infrastructure (ASX: BBI) in February 2006.
• PD Ports is a high performing specialist ports business offering a wide variety of supply chain services to improve customers’ international product and material movements into and out of – as well as within – the UK.
• PD Ports employs over 1350 members of staff, and generates an annual turnover of over £130 million from 30 UK locations.
• PD Ports operates throughout the UK from bases at many key ports and logistics centres.
• The 3 business interests of PD Ports are:
o Port Operations– this includes:
 Teesport: one of the top 3 UK ports, with flows of containers, bulk traffics and finished cars, handling 50 million tonnes of throughput p.a.
 The Northern Gateway Container Terminal: a major new deep sea container terminal planned at Teesport on the South side of the River Tees. The £300+ million development will have a capacity of 1.5 million TEU (twenty foot equivalent unit) and is anticipated to deliver over 5,500 jobs to the Tees Valley, opening in 2011. Please visit www.thenortherngateway.co.uk
 Portcentric Logistics: a new concept promoted by PD Ports for locating the storage and distribution of imported goods close to the point of arrival at a UK port. This concept avoids the slow handling and return of empty containers as well as eradicating unnecessary UK road mileage, which occurs when delivering to a traditional inland import centre, such as in the Midlands. In 2006 ASDA Wal-Mart opened a 350,000 sq ft import centre at Teesport and has saved more than 2 million road miles by adopting the portcentric concept. Tesco is also building a 1.2 sq ft import centre at Teesport to open in 2009.
 Humber & Small Ports: owners and/or operators of ports on the Humber estuary, Rivers Trent and Ouse, and at Medina Wharf, Isle of Wight. Service offerings include ship’s agency, chartering and stevedoring services.
 Logistics: PD Logistics offers warehousing and distribution services at 15 UK locations throughout the North East, Humberside & East Anglia, including at Felixstowe. Please visit www.pdlogistics.com
o Conservancy – this includes:
 Management of river traffic for the ports of Tees and Hartlepool, ensuring safe navigation and maintaining the required channel depth.
o Property– this includes:
 Revenue and income from property and facilities owned by PD Ports and used by third party clients on long term leases.
 Land that is not utilised for operational purposes and forms part of the potential for development.
 The redevelopment of part (133 hectares) of Hartlepool docks known as Victoria Harbour.
See also www.pdports.co.uk
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