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Global Ports establishes its own container fleet
Global Ports Group (part of the Delo Group) is establishing its own container fleet. 4 000 specialised containers will be used for the transportation, storage and handling of bulk cargo.
With this equipment and in partnership with Transcontainer - Russia's leading intermodal container operator (part of the Delo Group), Global Ports is launching a service which will enable manufacturers to ship bulk cargo by block trains from their own manufacturing facilities. Such a service may be of particular interest to companies in the chemical industry, particularly producers of mineral fertilisers.
The first lot of 1240 20-feet containers is already at the terminals of the Group in St. Petersburg. About the same number of containers will be delivered to Global Ports at the beginning of May. The third lot is expected by the end of June. The containers are custom-made in China.
The decision to introduce the new technology is driven, among other things, by the needs of the company's customers. Loading in containers from their own facilities and the following shipment by the block train will enable the Group's customers to significantly speed up logistics in comparison to traditional shipping in open wagons. In addition, cargo owners will be able to store different grades of fertilizers separately in the port and accumulate any combination of shipment lots. Handling of cargo into the hold from a specialised container is also significantly safer and more environmentally friendly.
The first customer of the new service will be the chemical holding company EuroChem. On 18th of April, during the annual transport and logistics exhibition TransRussia, the parties signed a letter of intent, under which the mineral fertilizer producer will ship up to 100,000 tonnes of its products each month to Global Ports for handling in the port of St. Petersburg.