The metal silos will be filled and emptied using a new 650-tonne-per-hour transfer conveyor system. The conveyor also serves as an automated filling system for the 16,000-tonne flat store, which has a direct delivery system to two customer flour mill sites. Once fully operational next month (September), the combined silo and flat store facility returns the terminal’s total on-site storage to 100,000 tonnes.
Works are also underway to replace the concrete silo and this is due for completion in December 2023. The new concrete silo will add a further 34,000 tonnes of automated storage, underpinning the grain terminal as the UK’s largest import/export grain handling facility.
Back to full capacity
The Tilbury Grain terminal has been in operation for over 50 years and is a key strategic facility in the South-East of the UK for the grain import and export markets handling over two million tonnes of product from around the world.
Peter Ward, commercial director at The Port of Tilbury said: “We are extremely pleased to start the commissioning of our new metal silos and high-speed conveyor system. Coupled with the construction of the concrete silo, the grain terminal will be back to full capacity on one site this year.
“Our terminal is a key facility in the South-East of England and an essential part of the UK agricultural supply chain for imports and exports and benefits from the full multimodal services at the Port of Tilbury including river barge transportation into central London.”