The Port of Rosyth’s Agri-hub reaches one million tonne milestone

Scotland’s largest agricultural products hub (agri-hub) at the Port of Rosyth has reached a milestone of handling one million tonnes of product for Cefetra.

The Agri-Hub, which opened in early 2020, handles an extensive range of important agricultural products for Scottish animal feed, food and drink and farming industries. The port has been fully open and operational throughout the global pandemic, with the port’s key workers handling these essential products.

The location and facilities at the Agri-Hub on the Firth of Forth ensure an efficient supply chain as cargo can be shipped directly from many origins from all around the world to Scotland without the need for transshipments at a European port. This also means there is a reduction in truck road miles as the hub is located centrally in Scotland for many farmers and food manufacturers.

Commenting on the news, Andy Lamb, Deputy Port Manager at the Port of Rosyth said: “Our Agri-Hub in Rosyth is a success story. Over the past two years, our team have handled 1mt [one million tonnes] of agri product for our partner Cefetra. We have shown resilience during a very challenging time for the port and our team have worked hard to ensure that the supplies reach the key farming and food market.”

Andrew Mackay, Managing Director at Cefetra Ltd, said: “We are extremely pleased with how the Agri-Hub is working and the cooperation we have had with Forth Ports in this enterprise. The facility helps us supply the Scottish market with key raw materials that the feed, food and drink industries require to be imported.

“In addition, we have worked for Scottish farmers, to develop new, interesting export markets for grains and oilseeds that we have loaded out from Rosyth. Reaching the landmark figure of 1mt of throughput in such a short period of time from the opening is a testament to all involved.”

Rosyth’s location and logistical links to the motorway network, make it ideally suited to supply all areas of Scotland and Northern England. The port has both deep sea and short sea capabilities. To create the agri-hub in 2020, the Port of Rosyth was deepened to provide a true deep-water port capable of taking vessels carrying up to 50,000 tonnes of cargo. The port’s existing storage facilities have been significantly extended with the addition of a new 200,000ft2 purpose-built agricultural products terminal, increasing the port’s storage capacity to around 100,000 tonnes.

The port invested in a new Liebherr mobile harbour crane for bulk handling capability and to manage dust emissions; a SAMSON ecological hopper is also in place at the port. The eco hopper is the first of its kind in the UK and forms a key component of the new agri-bulk hub facility.

ABOUT FORTH PORTS Forth Ports Limited owns and operates eight commercial ports in the UK: Tilbury on the [River] Thames; Dundee on the Firth of Tay; and six on the Firth of Forth — Leith, Grangemouth, Rosyth, Methil, Burntisland and Kirkcaldy. Within and around the Firths of Forth and Tay, Forth Ports manages and operates an area of 280 square miles of navigable waters, including two specialized marine terminals for oil and gas export and provides other marine services, such as towage and conservancy.

ABOUT CEFETRA LTD Cefetra Ltd is the largest agricultural trading company in Scotland with an annual turnover of £1billion. The business, headquartered in Glasgow Scotland, is active throughout the UK and Ireland, trading over 5million tonnes annually. It dispatches between 85,000/90,000 tonnes of raw materials to industry partners every week and delivers 550/600 lorry loads per day.