Associated British Ports invests £8m in agricultural warehouse

Crop production and grain marketing business Frontier Agriculture is keen to increase its storage facilities at the Port of Hull. The Humber Ports already play a major role in supporting the agricultural sector across the North and the Midlands.

As part of a new 12-year deal, ABP has commissioned a new 69,481 sq ft warehouse to accommodate Frontier’s growing business.

The warehouse will have a 40,386 tonne capacity, with an eight bay configuration and be used to store agricultural products, primarily grains, used in the manufacture of food.

For many years, supported by ABP’s stevedore service, Frontier has been exporting and importing wheat, barley, beans, rice and maize via the Port of Hull’s dry bulks Terminal. This new investment will help to grow those operations and will be a good boost to the local economy.

Simon Bird, director at ABP Humber, said: “ABP has a longstanding relationship with Frontier Agriculture, who have been utilising the Humber ports for many years and it is great to be able to support their expansion.

“This latest investment by ABP follows a number of others in the Humber in recent months in support of a range of sectors.

“Such investments are building confidence, and customers from across all sectors of the economy see the Humber Ports as a key link in their supply chain.”

At the end of 2020 ABP completed work on its £50m Humber Container Terminal in a move which aimed to increase capacity, futureproof the business, and reduce its carbon footprint.

The investment was split across ABP’s two sites at Hull and Immingham and created a container terminal which operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

A recent study showed that by moving cargo from southern ports to the Humber, businesses can save thousands of tonnes of CO2 emissions by enabling traders to reduce journey times by Bringing cargoes closer to their final destinations in the North.

In addition, the UK’s largest commercial rooftop solar array was unveiled at the Port of Hull last year, with the scope to power the port and its hybridised equipment using renewable energy, from an investment of £7m.

Simon Christensen, Frontier Agriculture grain director, said: “Our relationship with the Port of Hull enables us to access export markets for UK farmers’ surplus grains when market opportunities arise, and to import specialist grains that cannot easily be grown in the UK, for example, high quality milling wheats.

“The port has good transportation links which speed the movement of local farmers’ grain to export markets. Meanwhile, cargo arriving at the Port can be moved to millers and food manufacturers efficiently.”

The new warehouse will be located near to the port’s East Gate entrance. I & H Brown are the appointed contractors working with ABP to complete the project by the end of January 2022.

Frontier was formed in 2005 as a joint venture between Associated British Foods plc and Cargill Inc. and now turns over around £1.5bn per annum.

In March, The Humber was named as one of eight new freeports in the country. When assessing which areas should win designation, the area’s number came top when it came to meeting the Government’s criteria.

Support The Yorkshire Post and become a subscriber today.

Your subscription will help us to continue to bring quality news to the people of Yorkshire. In return, you’ll see fewer ads on site, get free access to our app and receive exclusive members-only offers.

So, please - if you can - pay for our work. Just £5 per month is the starting point. If you think that which we are trying to achieve is worth more, you can pay us what you think we are worth. By doing so, you will be investing in something that is becoming increasingly rare. Independent journalism that cares less about right and left and more about right and wrong. Journalism you can trust.

Thank you

James Mitchinson