Global Ports, now part of the Delo Group, has announced establishing its own container fleet. 4,000 special purpose units containers will be used to transport, store and handle bulk cargo.
With this equipment and in partnership with Russia’s leading intermodal container operator Transcontainer, also 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 for mineral fertilizers producers.
The first lot of 1,240 20’ units has already arrived at the Group’s terminals in St. Petersburg. About the same number of containers is to be delivered to Global Ports in early May. The third lot is expected to arrive 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. Stuffing containers at their own facilities and shipping by block train will enable them to significantly speed up delivery in comparison to traditional transportation 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. Loading cargo into vessel holds from a special purpose container is also significantly safer and more environmentally friendly, Global Ports noted.
The first customer of the new service will be the chemical holding company EuroChem. On April 18, the parties signed a letter of intent for shipping of up to 100,000 tons of EuroChem’s products monthly via Global Ports’ terminals in St. Petersburg at the TransRussia annual transport and logistics exhibition.
Photo: courtesy of Global Ports