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Great British bulk

Port of Tilbury’s Grain Terminal still a key strategic facility after 55 years

The UK’s largest import/export grain terminal at London’s Port of Tilbury has been operating on the same site on the River Thames for over five decades and this year it reaches its 55th year anniversary.

Built at a cost of over £50 million in today’s money, the grain terminal has processed over 40 million tonnes of product since opening in 1969. It currently handles up to two million tonnes of grain, wheat, barley and beans every year to help meet the UK’s import and export requirements.

A vital supplier to major global brands, grain is handled at the terminal daily through its import and export capability and is a key supporter of the agriculture industry in the south east of England as well as the flour milling and bakery industries. The terminal regularly handles cargoes from in and out of the UK and to countries across the world from the USA and Canada to European Ports and Australia.

The Tilbury Grain terminal is the key strategic facility in the South East of the UK for the grain import and export markets handling grain from around the world. Its berths have space to host postPanamax vessels with cargoes greater than 40,000 tonnes, but can also handle a range of coaster vessels on its inner and outer berths. The terminal also operates a monthly coastal shipping service from

Tilbury to its sister port in Kirkcaldy, Scotland for Carr’s Milling and a barge service to ADM Erith oil plant.

The grain terminal suffered a fire which damaged part of the facility in 2020; however, the grain operation was not interrupted for customers and following a large scale demolition and rebuilding project, new concrete silos have been erected and will become fully operational in the first half of 2024, bringing a combined total storage on site to 134,000 tonnes, underpinning the Tilbury grain terminal as the UK’s largest import and export grain handling facility.

The new concrete silo will be in addition to ten newly built steel silos and a flat store with a combined storage capacity of 34,000 tonnes, which became operational in September 2022. These steel silos are filled with a 650 tonne per hour transfer conveyor system which also serves the automated filling system for the 14,000 tonne flat store. The transfer conveyor also delivers grain directly from the terminal to two adjacent customer flour mill sites. Modernization of the terminal is set to continue in the coming years to guarantee the long term future of grain operations at Tilbury.

Peter Ward, Commercial Director at The Port of Tilbury said “The grain terminal in Tilbury plays a major role in supplying businesses from around the world with the grain needed to support their brands. As the UK’s largest grain facility, we have been an essential part of the UK agricultural supply chain for imports and exports for 55 years and through our continued investment in our people and our business, we are delivering unrivalled service for our customers.”

The Port of Tilbury is also the number one UK port for forestry products, construction materials, paper, recyclables and warehousing space. The port has a strong market presence in bulk commodities, ro-ro, cars and cruise vessels. Its busy container terminal handles a mix of short and deep-sea services and has the greatest reefer (refrigerated container) point connectivity in Europe.

Tilbury’s strategic location makes it a natural point for distribution, with nearly 20 million people living within 75 miles. Serving the UK’s market, the port offers customers excellent transport links to and from the UK’s capital and across the South-East where over 50% of the population live and work. The port is a diverse multi-modal hub, covering around 1,100 acres (850 acres and the London Distribution Park, in addition to the Tilbury2 site) and is well positioned to access the M25 orbital motorway and rest of the UK’s national motorway network. In addition, there are direct rail connections within the port and dedicated barge facilities. The Port of Tilbury is a partner of the Thames Freeport.

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