Demand for warehousing services continued to grow
Cargo transports in the Port of Turku are supported by diverse and extensive warehousing services which are provided, in addition to the Port, by the leading logistics companies in the country. Various solutions are available for short-term and long-term warehousing both indoors and outdoors on the field areas. The wide range of options ensure reliable and safe warehousing services tailored to individual needs for all kinds of products.
The capacity of the Port’s own warehouse space was in full use throughout the year. The high utilisation rate reflects the experiences of the coronavirus pandemic, as for example industrial companies want to ensure the availability of critical components for their production in rapidly changing conditions as well. Due to the strong and still growing demand, a lot of new warehouse capacity has been built in the port in recent years, and the building also continues in 2024. A new Best-Hall fabric building with a floor area of 7,000 square metres will be constructed in the Pansio logistics area, and once it is completed, the hall capacity in Pansio will total around 32.500 square metres.
Another record year for the Turku Free Zone Company
Port of Turku’s subsidiary Turku Free Zone Company again reached record-high financial performance in 2023, as the company’s turnover increased by about 25 per cent for the third year in a row. The year started out with a bleak outlook, however, as one of the company’s long-term customers cancelled its warehousing agreements as a result of a business acquisition. The loss was recovered quickly, when Turku Free Zone Company was assigned to take care of the entire logistics process for Meyer Turku shipyard’s Icon project. In conjunction with the building of the world’s biggest cruise liner, all vacant office premises were rented to the Royal Caribbean shipping company, and around 20 people from different parts of the world worked there during the project. A new giant cruise liner project is expected to start in the summer and the co-operation is expected to continue to 2026.
Although warehousing forms the foundation of Turku Free Zone Company’s business operations, growth is sought in new added value services. The company’s comprehensive and diverse supply uses increasingly digital services that provide, for example, online shops with efficiently functioning logistical overall solutions.
During 2023, the premises of Turku Free Zone Company increased by four Best-Hall fabric buildings that provided a total of 11,000 square metres of new warehouse capacity. At present, the company has building permit applications pending for two new Best-Hall fabric buildings, and the capacity of both of them has already been sold out. The first one is due for completion in May 2024, and the other one around midsummer. There are also plans for a heated hall with a floor area of 5,000 square metres, the construction of which may begin already in autumn 2024. By additional construction the company responds to the growing demand, as the customers are preparing to increase their stocks due to the extended delivery times caused by the war in Ukraine and longer shipping routes.
Read the full annual report 2023 (pdf).
Text: Kari Ahonen
Photo: Jarmo Piironen
