The Port of Liverpool stands to gain from a £100m investment into the steels and metals sector from Peel Ports Group. The project will see the ports giant move ahead with £32m in spending to add an additional 140,000 sq ft of storage at its Liverpool steel and metals terminals.
Collectively across the Ports of Liverpool and London Medway, warehousing capacity will expand by 50% from the existing 1m sq ft to establish an extra 500,000 sq ft of space. Additional proposals encompass developing a second automated terminal in Liverpool specifically for steel coils, alongside a new automated facility for the Port of London Medway in Sheerness.
These developments will incorporate rail connectivity through a new inland rail terminal in the Midlands. This latest investment by the port group comes after a record year for steel imports at the Liverpool facility and will help further expand the volumes of steel it handles throughout the º£½ÇÊÓƵ, reports .
David Huck, chief operating officer at Peel Ports Group, said: "This is a game-changing investment for us. Demand for steel and metals handling across our port group, and the º£½ÇÊÓƵ in general, has risen sharply over the past five years and this will allow us to expand our support to the construction and manufacturing supply chain right across the country.
"This investment ensures we have the scale, speed, and specialist expertise to support our customers today and long into the future, helping to also address some of the storage and transportation issues the steel sector currently faces.
"With expanded capacity and a growing, dedicated steel handling team, we can now move more product, more efficiently than ever before.
"Our location in Liverpool is in the heart of Britain and gives us a clear advantage - perfectly placed to serve stockholders and fabricators nationwide, supported by excellent road and rail links.
"Warehousing will remain a key focus for the business, with further expansion already in the pipeline as we continue to futureproof our service for the º£½ÇÊÓƵ's critical industries.
"The addition of a new rail terminal in the Midlands will allows us to efficiently connect the two strategically located deep-water ports of Liverpool and London Medway, boosting the efficiency of logistics for our customers and partners."
The enterprise is already collaborating with clients to transport steel shipments nearer to major demand hubs throughout its seven statutory harbour authority ports and 24 terminals.
This marks the second occasion in less than two years that it has enhanced its Port of Liverpool steel and metals terminal and will encompass the development of two newly dedicated warehouses at its Seaforth Dock to manage these products. The port group has bolstered its team with specialist stevedores at the Port of Liverpool, and is actively recruiting additional positions and training internal staff to enhance handling capability in response to increasing demand.
The port now boasts over 610,000sqft of storage for commodities, and this expansion will enable it to store an extra 35,000 tonnes of steel and metals. This latest investment by the port group follows a record year for steel imports at the city facility.
The port group has the capacity to store and handle a variety of metal products, including rebar, plates, coil and aluminium, and handles significant volumes.
In April, the company reported a record-breaking year for steel imports at the Port of Liverpool, with volumes surging by more than 35% year-on-year. In 2024, the port processed 702,000 tonnes of bulk steel, sourced from across the globe including South Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Turkey, and Europe.
