Coals to Newcastle

The Port of Tyne had its most successful year since the decline of coal exports, with more than 2.5m tonnes shipped compared with 2.3m tonnes in the previous year. It has also gained ISO 9001 quality accreditation for its procedures in handling cargoes such as scrap metal, grain

and coal. Under UK legislation, ISO 9001:2000 became compulsory requirement for all bulk ports, Tyne having achieved accreditation a year before the 2006 deadline.

It really is “coals to Newcastle” these days - the port has won several contracts to import coal for power stations around the UK, marking a major turnaround from the port’s position as one of the largest coal-exporting ports in Europe shipping out more than 23m tonnes per annum. Coals were last exported from the Tyne in 1998, and the coal-loading equipment was sold to Lyttleton Port in New Zealand in 2002.

Car shipments increased by 34.7% from 351,000 to 472,000, making the port the 10^th largest car shipment port in Europe. Container lines are increasingly seeing the benefits of feedering to main European ports such as Rotterdam and Felixstowe.

Port of Tyne Logistics Services, the port’s supply chain-management package, allows all types of goods to be shipped into the port, stored, repackaged and then delivered around the UK by the port’s own haulage fleet.

A £7m ($l2.8m) warehouse was built in 2004, extending warehousing capacity to 53,000 pallet spaces.At 18.6 metres high, the new facility provides substantial palletised warehousing for high-value products, bringing the total warehousing capacity within Tyne Dock to almost 6ha.