05-Aug-2002
Thamesport (London) Limited, part of the Hutchison Port Holdings Group (HPH), has announced the signing of a new 15 year contract with Winpac (UK) Limited for the development of a purpose-built facility at the Port, aimed at expanding its paperboard and paper processing, packaging and distribution operation in the UK.
Winpac (UK) Limited, part of a European sheeting and logistics group, with factories in the Netherlands and Germany, has chosen Thamesport as the location for a 30,000sq ft factory which will be constructed and operational by February 2003. It will house the sophisticated machinery used by Winpac to sheet, palletise and shrink-wrap products to customers’ specific requirements.
In a carefully integrated system, Thamesport staff will handle and deliver reels direct from the Port’s bonded warehouses to the factory, and will also load the finished products to road haulage.
The factory is expected to handle 50,000 tonnes a year initially but increasing to over 70,000 tonnes within 2 years. About three-quarters of this will be containerised reels, with the balance being imported as general or roll-on/roll-off cargo.
A key feature of the new factory will be the installation of “Cortec”, Winpac’s custom-designed IT system for sheeting and inventory control. The flexibility of this system enables it to be customised to meet individual requirements.
The signing was welcomed by Thamesport Director, Richard Pearson, who said:
“We are delighted to have secured this long term agreement with Winpac at Thamesport. This purpose-built facility not only acknowledges Thamesport’s Forest Products handling capability, but also represents a real step forward in the development of value-added activities actually at the point of import. Winpac’s customers can expect to benefit from significant savings on haulage costs, which will also help to secure our reputation as a market leader in “Port-centric” logistics and distribution solutions.”
Commenting on the agreement, Keith Wild, Managing Director of Winpac (UK) Limited said:
“After viewing many sites, we have chosen Thamesport as our new home as it offered the ideal gateway for our sheeting operation. Our expansion plans could not be accommodated at the Belvedere site and the new factory will have the benefit of a flexible warehousing solution to meet the future growth in our business.”
The new facility is expected to significantly increase the volume of forest products imports into Thamesport, which has 120,000 square feet of bonded warehousing. The raw product will be transferred directly from the vessel into quayside warehouses, then delivered to the factory for processing, labelling and packaging, and onto waiting trucks for delivery, all to customers’ exact specifications.