Kiel’s Forest Products Center Launched

 Kiel’s new forest products handling and distribution centre has gone into operation in the Ostuferhafen. This means that the port has now become an integral part of the logistics chain operated by the Swedish concerns Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget (SCA) and Iggesund Paperboard.

Dr Dirk Claus, Managing Director of the Port of Kiel (SEEHAFEN KIEL GmbH & Co. KG) said: “We have created a terminal in the Ostuferhafen which is tailor-made to the requirements of our customers. In addition to that, Kiel’s geographical location fits very well into the SCA liner network”.

SCA cargo ships from Sundsvall have been calling at the Ostuferhafen once a week since the beginning of the month, offloading 6,000 tons of forest products with each visit. The products range from newsprint to light cardboard for high-value packaging. From Kiel these products are being transported further - not only into Germany itself but also to markets in central Europe. On their return journeys to the Swedish east coast, the SCA ships can transport different types of cargo such as steel, vehicles, building machinery, general or specialised cargo and even materials for recycling.
 
A total of 25 million Euros have been invested in the Ostuferhafen and 70 new jobs created, fifty of them at the Port of Kiel’s own handling company. The new forest products centre comprises Warehouse 1 and Warehouse 2, which are each of 10,000 m² - and the somewhat smaller Warehouse 4. Their capacity is complemented by that at Warehouse 8 – the Ferry Boat Hall – which has more than 7,000 additional m² and has been newly built within striking distance of the shipping berth.

An even bigger hall is currently under construction adjacent to the existing paper product warehouses and the topping- out ceremony for that structure was celebrated in May. It will be known as Warehouse 5 and will be 200 x 90 m in size and boast 18,000 m2 of storage space. It will be inaugurated on October 1st. “All those involved in this project have done sterling work”, said Dirk Claus. “Because of the first-class terminal infrastructure now in place, Kiel can offer the best of conditions for handling and storing industrial and general cargo, raw materials and timber products”, he added. The official opening of the new SCA logistics centre is set for November 11th.