Forth Ports has revealed the scale of the goods its facilities is handling as demand for food and other staples soared during the coronavirus outbreak.
The Edinburgh-headquartered group operates eight ports across the UK including Tilbury, Grangemouth, Leith, Rosyth and Dundee.
Signs of panic buying at supermarkets were reported from the beginning of March as shoppers stripped shelves bare of toilet roll, pasta and hand disinfectant.
During March alone it managed:
- 74,000 tonnes of wheat – the equivalent of 148 million loaves of bread for supermarkets
- 40,000 tonnes of food for supermarket shelves, including over 8,500 tonnes of fruit and vegetables and the equivalent of 2.5 million packs of pasta, two million packs of rice, 4.75 million tins of food and enough fruit juice to fill 5.6 million cartons
- 2700 tonnes of medical supplies, 4.8 million nappies and 3.8 million bottles of soap
- 6,200 tonnes of tissue and paper products to make toilet rolls, pharmaceutical packaging and food packaging
- 27,000 tonnes of fertiliser into the east coast of Scotland to support the growth of key agricultural products
- 10,000 tonnes of fishmeal this year which is crucial to the supply of Scotland’s aquaculture industry
- More than 50,000 tonnes of animal feed in stock, supporting Scotland and the South East’s key livestock, pig and poultry producers.
- Providing safe anchorages and berths for nine cruise vessels in the River Forth and the River Thames
- Handled the plywood used to build the NHS Nightingale Hospitals in London and Birmingham and the NHS Louisa Jordan in Glasgow
Forth Ports chief executive Charles Hammond said: “I am extremely proud and grateful to our hard-working teams across our ports.
“Our own ‘quay’ workers have adapted admirably to the necessary changes and restrictions in order for us to ensure we work in a safe and protected environment.
“All of this enables us to handle the much-needed products for other front-line essential services, people and business across the UK.
“It is clear to see from this the key role that our ports are playing in these very challenging times to keep the supermarket shelves full and the economy moving.”
