SSAB to extend its contract with Antwerp port

The Swedish steel manufacturer SSAB continues to use Antwerp port as a hub
 
 Recently the Swedish steel manufacturer SSAB extended its ten-year contract in the Antwerp port by two years until end 2014. SSAB, the market leader for the production of high-strength steel, works with Thor Shipping & Transport and Wijngaardnatie stevedore Antwerp Stevedoring International in Antwerp for the handling, storage and distribution of its steel products, which are shipped from Antwerp to the European hinterland and North America.
 
SSAB established a presence in the Antwerp port in 2002. With 50 to 60 calls a year and 2.2 million tonnes of steel handled in the last ten years, SSAB is responsible for the lion’s share of imports of Swedish conventional steel in Antwerp. “The fact that a global player like SSAB has chosen Antwerp as its hub again underscores our position as the largest steel handling port in Europe. In recent years Antwerp steel volumes were up again and we hope that this trend will continue in the next few years, especially given the high added value generated by these goods and the associated handling;” says the Alderman for the port, Marc Van Peel
 
SSAB is a global player in the steel industry. In recent years the company has continued to specialise in the sale of niche products such as high-strength steel. Compared with conventional steel this type of steel reduces the weight of the end product making it stronger and more sustainable. SSAB has production units in Sweden and the United States and wishes to increase the share of high-strength steel in its portfolio, which currently represents 37 percent of its sales, to 50 percent by 2015.
 
As the European market leader the port of Antwerp handled almost 7 million tonnes of steel in the last year. Thanks to the more than 250 regular breakbulk calls a month the port offers a wide and highly diversified range of overseas connections, both deepsea and shortsea. Almost all the known steel manufacturers ship their products through Antwerp, including coils, sheets, steel plate, long iron, tubes and non-ferrous products. Moreover the London Metal Exchange has certified several Antwerp service providers for the storage of non-ferrous products such as zinc, aluminium and lead.

Quelle: LogEastics

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