Port of Liverpool owner Peel Ports announces a £100m project to increase steel and metals imports into the UK and improve logistics in a ‘game-changing investment’. Tony McDonough reports

Peel Ports said the Port of Liverpool will benefit from a £100m investment into the steel and metals sector.

In April LBN revealed the Port of Liverpool had seen a record 702,000 tonnes of steel processed on the Mersey in 2024. Imports came in from countries including South Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Turkey, and other European countries.

Now Peel Ports is looking to capitalise on that growing demand with further investment into Liverpool and its other UK locations. It is currently progressing with a £32m project to add a further 140,000 sq ft of storage at its Mersey steel and metals terminals.

Overall across the ports of Liverpool and London Medway, warehousing will be increased by 50% from the current 1m sq ft to create an additional 500,000 sq ft of capacity.

Further plans include creating a second automated terminal in Liverpool dedicated to steel coils, as well as a new automated terminal for the Port of London Medway in Sheerness.

These will be developed to include rail connectivity by a new inland rail terminal in the Midlands. 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 UK 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 UK’s critical industries.”

David added that the addition of a new rail terminal in the Midlands will allow the business to efficiently connect the two strategically located deep-water ports of Liverpool and London Medway.

It is already working with customers to bring steel cargoes closer to major centres of demand across its seven statutory harbour authority ports and 24 terminals.

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This is the second time in under two years it has extended its Port of Liverpool steel and metals terminal and will involve the creation of two newly dedicated warehouses at its Seaforth Dock to handle these products.

Peel has added a new team of specialist Stevedores at the Port of Liverpool and is actively recruiting for extra positions and training internal staff to enhance handling capability to meet the rise in demand.

Liverpool now boasts more than 610,000 sq ft of storage for the commodity, and this expansion means it will be able to store an additional 35,000 tonnes of steel and metals.