NORDEN has entered into a new business area of port logistics, signing a major contract with manganese mining company Comilog – a subsidiary of French metallurgical group Eramet extending the relationship with a key customer.

Over the 10-year agreement, NORDEN is responsible for setting up and operating a transhipment solution in Gabon, Central Africa with an investment of around USD 40 million.

“Port logistics is an exciting new growth opportunity for us as we look to take our business beyond a standard freight service to an innovative supply chain partner,” says NORDEN CEO Jan Rindbo of the first logistics offering, where the first operation took place earlier this year.

A new growth area
Development of the port logistics business is managed by the newly established Logistics & Climate Solutions team, which works to deliver efficient and sustainable supply chain solutions to customers by investing in selected port logistics, headed by Adam Nielsen:

“This type of logistics solution is a natural extension of our customer service offering and we see a large potential to grow our business globally by engaging in such infrastructure development in partnership with customers.”

The Gabon project has seen NORDEN establishing a floating transfer station 40 km away from the existing port, to allow for the use of Capesize vessels – some of the world’s largest dry cargo ships. Cargo is transported on barges from the port to the floating transfer station, where it is loaded onto the vessels and shipped to Asia.

The agreement with Comilog sees NORDEN handling the ocean freight for a portion of the transhipped cargo. Utilising larger vessels solves a major bottleneck for Comilog, making the operation more efficient while at the same time reducing carbon emissions of the transport.

“We are pleased to further our collaboration with Comilog, making this project a success for Gabon and for the company,” adds Adam Nielsen.