Peel Ports Group to invest £100m to expand national steel and metals multimodal hub

• Investment includes immediate £32m spend to grow steel and metals storage at the Port of Liverpool
• Plans include new automated terminals in Liverpool and London Medway, with the development of a new automated rail facility in the Midlands

Peel Ports Group is to invest £100m into the steels and metals sector in a move to enhance capacity and boost the efficiency of logistics.

The UK’s second largest port operator is progressing with £32m to add a further 140,000 sq ft of storage at its Port of Liverpool steel and metals terminals. Overall across the Ports of Liverpool and London Medway, warehousing will be increased by 50 percent from the current 1 million sq ft to create an additional 500,000 sq ft of capacity.

Further plans include creating a second automated terminal in Liverpool dedicated to steel coils, as well as a new automated terminal for the Port of London Medway in Sheerness.

These will be developed to include rail connectivity by a new inland rail terminal in the Midlands.

This fresh investment by the port group follows a record year for steel imports at the Liverpool facility and will help further grow the volumes of steel it transports across the UK.

David Huck, Chief Operating Officer at Peel Ports Group, said: "This is a game-changing investment for us.

“Demand for steel and metals handling across our port group, and the UK in general, has risen sharply over the past five years and this will allow us to expand our support to the construction and manufacturing supply chain right across the country.

“This investment ensures we have the scale, speed, and specialist expertise to support our customers today and long into the future, helping to also address some of the storage and transportation issues the steel sector currently faces.

“With expanded capacity and a growing, dedicated steel handling team, we can now move more product, more efficiently than ever before. Our location in Liverpool is in the heart of Britain and gives us a clear advantage - perfectly placed to serve stockholders and fabricators nationwide, supported by excellent road and rail links.

“Warehousing will remain a key focus for the business, with further expansion already in the pipeline as we continue to futureproof our service for the UK’s critical industries."

“The addition of a new rail terminal in the Midlands will allows us to efficiently connect the two strategically located deep-water ports of Liverpool and London Medway, boosting the efficiency of logistics for our customers and partners.”

The business is already working with customers to bring steel cargoes closer to major centres of demand across its seven statutory harbour authority ports and 24 terminals.

This is the second time in under two years it has extended its Port of Liverpool steel and metals terminal and will involve the creation of two newly dedicated warehouses at its Seaforth Dock to handle these products.

The port group has added a new team of specialist Stevedores at the Port of Liverpool and is actively recruiting for extra positions and training internal staff to enhance handling capability to meet the rise in demand.

The port now boasts more than 610,000sqft of storage for the commodity, and this expansion means it will be able to store an additional 35,000 tonnes of steel and metals.

This fresh investment by the port group follows a record year for steel imports at the city facility. 

The port group has the capability to store and handle many different types of metal products, including rebar, plates, coil and aluminium, and handles significant volumes.

In April, the company reported a record-breaking year for steel imports at the Port of Liverpool, with volumes increasing by more than 35% year-on-year. 702,000 tonnes of bulk steel were processed at the port in 2024, coming from across the world including from South Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Turkey, and Europe.

The port operator also recently underlined its commitment to supporting UK steel and metals supply chains by becoming the first and only UK port operator to join the Aluminium Federation (ALFED).