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20th October

ABP.1

While King’s Lynn might be one of Britain’s smaller ports, new statistics just published by the Department for Transport show that it is Britain’s fastest growing port.

Trade through the East Anglian inland Port of Kings Lynn increased in 2008 by a staggering 33%, at a time when many of the major ports saw a drop.

Alastair MacFarlane, Port Manager for Port of Kings Lynn, which is owned by Associated British Ports said: “There is no doubt that Britain’s roads are suffering from spiralling congestion. At King’s Lynn we have marketed the town’s port to encourage business to use water as opposed to roads.”

“Much of the increased business that passed over the port’s wharves and docks was due to the bumper 2008 crop. 465 thousand tonnes of cargo was exported to both EU and non-EU destinations, which was 48% more than the year previous.

The Port of Kings Lynn is conveniently located at the centre of the UK’s east coast and has considerable expertise in handling agribulks, forest products, steel and break-bulk cargoes, using a range of specialised berths and facilities.

The port has benefited from investment by ABP in recent years, seeing the creation of a high-capacity, dock-side silo complex that facilitates efficient processing of grain exclusively with Openfield Agriculture, who delivered almost half of the tonnage exported through King’s Lynn in 2008.

King’s Lynn also provides a range of value-added services to customers, such as ship’s agency, haulage, store management, stock-control and cereals-laboratory services. The port can also accommodate special project and heavy-lift cargoes, and offers an award-winning stevedoring service.