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Norden expands into port logistics
NORDEN has entered into a new business area of port logistics, signing a major contract with manganese mining company Comilog — a subsidiary of French metallurgical group Eramet — extending the relationship with a key customer. Over the ten-year agreement, NORDEN is responsible for setting up and operating a transshipment solution in Gabon, Central Africa with an investment of around US$40 million. “Port logistics is an exciting new growth opportunity for us as we look to take our business beyond a standard freight service to an innovative supply chain partner,” says NORDEN CEO Jan Rindbo of the first logistics offering, where the first operation took place earlier this year.
APRIL 2022
A NEW GROWTH AREA
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Development of the port logistics business is managed by NORDEN’s Logistics & Climate Solutions team, which works to deliver efficient and sustainable supply chain solutions to customers by investing in selected port logistics, headed by Adam Nielsen: “This type of logistics solution is a
natural extension of our customer service offering and we see a large potential to grow our business globally by engaging in such infrastructure development in partnership with customers.” The Gabon project has seen NORDEN establishing a floating transfer station 40km away from the existing port, to allow for the use of Capesize vessels. Cargo is transported on barges from the port to the floating transfer station, where it is loaded onto the vessels and shipped to Asia. The agreement with Comilog sees NORDEN handling the ocean freight for a portion of the transshipped cargo. Utilizing larger vessels solves a major bottleneck for Comilog, making the operation more efficient while at the same time reducing carbon emissions of the transport. “We are pleased to further our collaboration with Comilog, making this project a success for Gabon and for the company,” adds Nielsen.
OFFLOADING 30,000 TONNES OF SALT Port logistics and cargo handling services represent a critical new business area for NORDEN.
“Our ambition is to be much more than just a standard freight service to our customers,” says Nielsen. “We are looking at new ways to optimize and decarbonize our customers’ supply chains; and we are actively looking for business where integrated solutions are required.” In 2021, NORDEN entered into a project with current customer Empremar for offloading bulk salt. The complex operation optimizes the supply chain for Empremar and is yet another example of NORDEN’s move into port logistics. While NORDEN has been shipping salt to the US for Empremar for 20 years, NORDEN now also manages the entire logistics operation of moving the salt from ship to shore. This involves an intricate barging, heavy equipment, and labour operation, and timing it all to consistently meet the arrival of the ship coming from Chile, building on NORDEN’s specialist knowledge. The operation takes place at a chemical plant in California, where 30,000 tonnes of salt is offloaded from a bulk carrier onto a private terminal, for then to be taken directly to the plant and used to
