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More steel for Ireland railed into Port of Liverpool

For Immediate Release - 24 April, 2006

Rail movements of steel through the Port of Liverpool have more than doubled to meet market demand in Ireland and the North West of England.

Both steel coil and plate are now regularly arriving at the Gladstone Steel Terminal from South Wales for onward shipment to Dublin and Belfast and regional distribution in Britain.

The number of EWS trains carrying the cargoes has risen to as many as five a week in 2006 from the one to two each week last year.

The Mersey Docks and Harbour Company steel terminal expects to handle 180,000 tonnes of the railed traffic in 2006, with onward shipment to Ireland undertaken by Mersey Docks' subsidiary, Coastal Container Line.

Said John Rogers, Mersey Docks' Business Development Manager: "We have been handling steel coil shipments arriving by rail from early in 2005. The increase in the number of trains in 2006 and the addition of steel plate volumes is a response to market demand and a reflection of the quality service the Port of Liverpool is able to provide."

Both the coil and plate are discharged from the trains within the Gladstone Steel Terminal's 95,000 sq ft warehouse, using 30 tonne capacity roof gantry cranes, which also load onto special flats for the short movement to quayside and waiting ship.

Coastal Container Line is the major lift-on lift-off operator on the Irish Sea, sailing to Dublin daily and Belfast three times a week from its own terminal at nearby Seaforth Dock

Said Coastal's Chief Executive John Forrester: "The greater volumes arriving at the Gladstone Steel Terminal by train for onward shipment to Ireland consolidate Coastal's long term relationship with a major supplier. We are delighted to have the opportunity to write a new chapter in a quality service we have been providing for a good number of years."

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