Redcar Bulk Terminal

Located in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, the bulk terminal is on the south bank of the River Tees.{{cite web |title=Redcar bulk terminal deal {{!}} British Steel |url=https://britishsteel.co.uk/news/redcar-bulk-terminal-deal/ |website=britishsteel.co.uk |access-date=16 July 2018 |date=9 July 2018}} It is the deepest part of the Teesport area and the deepest port ({{convert|56|ft}}) in eastern England.{{cite news |last1=Isaac |first1=Anna |title=Freeing Teesport: could it help Britannia rule the waves? |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/09/23/freeing-teesport-could-help-britannia-rule-waves/ |access-date=11 July 2018 |work=The Telegraph |date=23 September 2017}} The port can handle Panamax and Capesize vessels, with Redcar being only one of four that can take the Capesize vessels in the United Kingdom.{{cite news |last1=Yeomans |first1=Jon |title=Sirius Minerals to use former Redcar steel port in boost for Tees Valley |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2018/07/09/sirius-minerals-take-former-redcar-steel-port-boost-tees-valley/ |access-date=11 July 2018 |work=The Telegraph |date=9 July 2018}}

The site at Redcar had been used as a dock since the 1850s,{{cite web |title=History |url=http://www.teesbaypilots.co.uk/about-us/history.html |website=www.teesbaypilots.co.uk |access-date=16 July 2018}} and had also been investigated by the Shell oil company as a possible site for their operations. Still, despite an optimistic assessment by a hydraulics engineering company, Shell did not build on the site, with their operations being located further upstream.{{cite book |last1=Guillou |first1=M. Le |title=A history of the River Tees, 1000-1975 |date=1978 |publisher=Cleveland County Libraries |location=Middlesbrough |isbn=0-904784-06-1 |page=161}} Sir W Halcrow chose the site, and the new terminal was announced in 1969 when it was also considered as a point of import for iron ore for the Scunthorpe Steelworks, but British Steel Corporation (BSC) opened a second iron ore dock at Immingham to supply the Lincolnshire side of its operations.{{cite news |last1=Fisher |first1=Nigel |title=Major steel investment came at a huge price |work=Grimsby Telegraph |date=7 February 2011|id={{ProQuest|849558674}} }} Whilst primarily an import terminal for Teesside, the terminal began running trains to Consett Steelworks in 1974 for BSC instead of those trains originating in Tyneside.{{cite magazine |last1=Ringer |first1=Brian |title=The Climb to Consett |magazine=Backtrack |date=July 2015 |volume=7 |issue=291 |page=445 |publisher=Pendragon |location=Easingwold |issn=0955-5382}}

Between 1969 and 1972, an area covering over {{convert|60,000|m2|order=flip|0}} was excavated with depths up to {{convert|45|m|order=flip|0}}.{{cite book |last1=Puller |first1=Malcolm |title=Deep excavations : a practical manual |date=2003 |publisher=Telford |location=London |isbn=0-7277-3150-5 |page=122 |edition=2}}{{cite web |title=Deepening of River Tees for British Steel Corporation Ore Terminal site at Redcar Wharf |url=http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/record?catid=8128237&catln=6 |website=discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk |access-date=10 July 2018}} The company created the bulk import terminal to supply the adjacent Redcar Steelworks, which had been opened in 1917 by Dorman Long and became part of British Steel Corporation in 1967.{{cite news |last1=Leatherdale |first1=Duncan |title=The firm that bridged the world |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-34389873 |access-date=11 July 2018 |work=BBC News |date=3 October 2015}} £15 million was spent locating the port on the edge of the {{convert|1,500|acre|adj=on}} Redcar steel estate{{cite news |title=40 Years Ago |work=Middlesbrough Evening Gazette |date=8 August 2009|id={{ProQuest|351357907}} }} which could accommodate vessels of between {{convert|150,000|tonne}} and {{convert|200,000|tonne}} whereas before that, the maximum deadweight (DWT) that could be offloaded at the site was {{convert|30,000|tonne}}.{{cite journal |last1=Irwin-Childs |first1=F |last2=Knowles |first2=A S |last3=Fuchsberger |first3=M |title=Redcar Ore Terminal |journal=Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers |date=May 1975 |volume=58 |issue=2 |page=125–161 |doi=10.1680/iicep.1975.3800 |publisher=Institution of Civil Engineers |issn=1753-7789}} An enlarged Redcar port with a {{convert|1,048|ft|adj=on}} quay was opened by the British Steel Corporation (BSC) in 1973 after it had developed the dock area and had the River Tees deepened.{{cite news |title=The region with an iron backbone |work=Evening Gazette |date=7 December 2010|id={{ProQuest|816324114}} }}

The first vessel to dock there was the "Owari Maru" on 6 September 1973, a {{convert|106,000|tonne|adj=on}} ship carrying iron ore for the Redcar steelworks.{{cite book |last1=Guillou |first1=M. Le |title=A history of the River Tees, 1000-1975 |date=1978 |publisher=Cleveland County Libraries |location=Middlesbrough |isbn=0-904784-06-1 |page=162}}

BSC was privatised into British Steel in 1988, and when British Steel merged with Koninklijke Hoogovens in 1999, the new venture, named Corus, used the facility for the importation of iron ore and coal for the Redcar steelworks.{{cite book |last1=Shannon |first1=Paul |title=Rail freight since 1968 : bulk freight |date=2008 |publisher=Silver Link |location=Great Addington, Kettering |isbn=978-1-85794-299-6 |page=79}} Both Tata and latterly, SSSI (the subsequent owners of the steelworks) used the dock to import raw materials.

An average of {{convert|8,000,000|tonne}} of iron ore per annum was imported through the dock in the 2000–2009 period.{{cite news |last1=Bounds |first1=Andrew |title=Fortunes ebb and flow at northern ports |work=Financial Times |date=27 July 2009|id={{ProQuest|250216539}} }} In 2009, the steelworks were closed, but Tata retained control of the dock. When the steelworks site was handed over to SSI in 2011, Tata retained a joint stake in the dock to allow them the flexibility to import coal and iron ore if necessary.{{cite web |title=2011 {{!}} Tata Steel in Europe |url=https://www.tatasteeleurope.com/en/news/news/2011/2011_ssi_tcp |website=www.tatasteeleurope.com |access-date=16 July 2018 |date=24 February 2011}}

Tata Steel's 50% stake in the venture was later sold to British Steel Limited in 2017, but in February 2020, this was acquired by SSI, therefore returning the terminal to unified ownership under the Official Receiver (administering SSI UK since its 2015 liquidation).{{cite news |title=All About Shipping |url=http://www.allaboutshipping.co.uk/2017/06/01/british-steel-completes-transfer-of-50-stake-in-redcar-bulk-terminal/ |access-date=13 July 2018 |work=www.allaboutshipping.co.uk |date=1 June 2017}}{{Cite web|url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/07402297/filing-history|title=REDCAR BULK TERMINAL LIMITED filing history - Find and update company information - GOV.UK}} However, the berth itself is owned by PD Ports.{{cite news |title=MPs press government on clean-up of Teesside steel plant |url=https://www.ft.com/content/13d46758-cb64-11e5-a8ef-ea66e967dd44 |access-date=14 July 2018 |work=Financial Times |date=4 February 2016|url-access=registration}}

The port lost a huge tonnage of its business when the adjacent SSI steel plant was mothballed in 2015.{{cite web |title=UK Port Freight Statistics: 2016|url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/646188/port-freight-statistics-2016-revised.pdf |website=assets.publishing.service.gov.uk |access-date=14 July 2018 |page=6 |date=1 September 2017}} Since then, it has handled between {{convert|2,000,000|tonne}} and {{convert|3,000,000|tonne}} of trade per year, though the complex can handle {{convert|12,000,000|tonne}}. The terminal can unload from a train and load onto another train simultaneously. It also has over {{convert|8|mi}} of sidings with over 70% of its business arriving or leaving by rail.{{sfn|Pickering|2019|p=52}}

In 2019, RBT covered an area of {{convert|320|acre}} and had a connection to the railway lines on South Teesside.{{sfn|Pickering|2019|p=52}} The terminal has previously dispatched trainloads of coal for power stations via many freight operating companies.{{cite book |last1=Brailsford |first1=Martyn |title=Railway Track Diagrams 2: Eastern |date=2016 |publisher=Trackmaps |location=Frome |isbn=978-0-9549866-8-1 |page=47 |edition=4}} Imported coal has been moved to power stations (Fiddlers Ferry in 2016, for example) and forwarded to Redcar from opencast sites in Scotland for export. Due to a downturn in ESI coal imports, trainloads of coal have dropped from 50 per week in 2013 to 15 per week in 2019.{{sfn|Pickering|2019|p=55}} The terminal has also been used to import Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBS) to Scunthorpe and as a forwarding point for unused iron ore since the adjacent steelworks closed in 2009 and 2015.{{cite journal |last1=Shannon |first1=Paul |title=Railfreight 2017 Review |journal=Railways Illustrated |date=March 2018 |volume=16 |issue=181 |pages=54 61 |publisher=Key Publishing |location=Stamford |issn=1479-2230}}

The letter after the product indicates whether it is imported (I) or exported (E).{{cite web |title=Redcar Bulk Terminal Limited - Land Sea and Air Magazine |url=http://www.landseaairmagazine.com/2016/11/11/redcar-bulk-terminal-limited/ |website=landseaairmagazine.com |access-date=11 July 2018 |date=11 November 2016}}

• Coal (E future) (I){{cite book |last1=Rawlinson |first1=Mark |title=Freightmaster |date=Spring 2010 |publisher=Freightmaster Publishing |location=Swindon |pages=108–109 |edition=57|oclc=931138456}}
• Coke (E) (I)
• GGBS (I){{cite news |title=Redcar Bulk Terminal secures major contracts with Javelin Commodities and Hanson after British Steel acquires 50% stake |url=https://britishsteel.co.uk/news/redcar-bulk-terminal-secures-major-new-contracts/ |access-date=13 July 2018 |work=British Steel |date=9 October 2017}}
• Iron ore (1972-2015) (I)
• Petroleum coke (Petcoke) (I)
• Polyhalite (future) (E)
• Scrap metal (E){{cite news |title=News in brief 01/07/16 |url=https://resource.co/article/news-brief-010716-11215 |access-date=14 July 2018 |work=Resource Magazine |date=1 July 2016}}

Redcar is preferred for exporting metallurgical coal (for coking) from the Woodhouse Colliery site in West Cumbria. Up to six trains daily would run between Whitehaven and Redcar, delivering the coal.{{cite web |title=How will materials be transported? - West Cumbria Mining |url=https://www.westcumbriamining.com/what-is-the-plan/how-will-materials-be-transported/ |website=West Cumbria Mining |access-date=13 July 2018}}{{cite magazine |last1=Jones |first1=Ben |title=Coal traffic for Cumbrian coast? |magazine=The Railway Magazine |date=March 2018 |volume=164 |issue=1,404 |page=78 |publisher=Mortons Media |location=Horncastle |issn=0033-8923}}

In July 2018, Sirius Minerals, the operators of Woodsmith Mine, signed an agreement to export up to {{convert|10,000,000|tonne}} of polyhalite per year from Redcar. The mineral would arrive at the Bran Sands site via a {{convert|37|km|order=flip|adj=on}} underground conveyor belt from the Woodsmith Mine site. RBT would then store and export the mineral via its quayside.{{cite news|last=Snowden|first=Ros|title=Giant potash mine signs deal for port and loading facilities|newspaper=The Yorkshire Post|date=10 July 2018|page=10|location=Business|issn=0963-1496}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite magazine|last=Pickering|first=Graeme|title=Cumbria to Teesside...and the world|issue=875|date=27 March 2019|magazine=Rail Magazine|publisher=Bauer Media|location=Peterborough|issn=0953-4563}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Redcar Bulk Terminal}}

Category:Ports and harbours of Yorkshire

Category:River Tees

Category:Places in the Tees Valley

Category:Transport in Redcar and Cleveland

Category:Teesside

Category:Redcar

Category:Railway freight terminals in the United Kingdom