This year, Flevoland will get its own port outside the dykes. With it, the connection of the Flevopolder will be improved, and it will also offer new opportunities for companies in the hinterland. Waterman Onions has been involved with project Flevokust from the very start. Last autumn, the first shipments of onions were transferred to inland vessels in the port in the making.
Flevokust takes up a (container) terminal outside the dykes of 400 by 155 metres, and a complex of 43 hectares, of which seven hectares are now in development, inside the dykes. The port complex, situated near the A6, will make it easier to sell products from Flevoland and surrounding areas. It will feature a storage and transfer port, where containers will arrive on inland vessels, before being transported to the immediate hinterland per lorry or train. The new port offers entrepreneurs major benefits. The transfer of container goods, including potatoes and onions, saves entrepreneurs time and transport costs, and is beneficial for the environment: fewer traffic jams and fewer emissions of particulate matter and CO2.
“We, but also other companies such as Agrico, HZPC and Van Liere, are really seeing the opening of the new port as an opportunity,” says Erik Waterman from Waterman Onions. “Many potatoes and onions are grown and traded in this region. The containers are now sent to the port of Rotterdam or Antwerp by road, or they are loaded onto inland vessels in Groningen or Heerenveen. The sales via Lelystad are a good alternative,” according to him. Besides economic and environmental advantages, Flevokust also creates opportunities to add value to incoming or outgoing goods on the spot. The (cooling) containers that return empty, can be refilled with various export products such as seed potatoes and other fruit and vegetables, or a combination could be made with other products from local entrepreneurs.
Multimodal
Flevokust is to the north of Lelystad, on deep water. The growing Lelystad Airport, one of the most important inland waterways of the Netherlands Amsterdam-Lemmer, the A6 motorway and the Hanzelijn track are in close proximity. The new port makes the coupling of cargo and transport in regular services by boat possible between Rotterdam and Amsterdam to the north of the country and Germany. Eventually, after a possible widening of the Kornweder sluice, ‘short sea’ transport to, for example, the Baltic Sea could also become an option.
Waterman Onions dries, sorts, packs and exports about 120,000 tonnes of onions annually. At least 90 per cent of the onions is meant for export. These are shipped to destinations all over the world. Waterman Onions recently started using the port that is yet to be realised. They ship containers to Rotterdam through the port of Lelystad. From there, the containers are transferred onto boats for export to other destinations. “The port is now being used more and more often for agricultural products. We started using the port early November, and have shipped some hundreds of containers with complete satisfaction by now. We are satisfied because we aren’t just saving transport costs, we are also working sustainably by limiting unnecessary road transports, and we aren’t bothered by waiting times in the ports during peak times.”
Worries and opportunities
Besides the positive developments, there are still some worries for the entrepreneur from Emmeloord. For example, the loss in sales to West African countries is limiting the onion market. Erik has also noticed that surrounding countries have plenty of own stocks. “Prices are pretty similar throughout Europe, and that’s quite unique. South America is also not on the market. We normally sent a lot to Brazil this time of year, but because of area expansion, they now have plenty of their own production,” he says mid-February. The uncertainties surrounding a possible ban on the substance MH are also a cause for worry to him. According to Erik, the substance to prevent sprouting of the onions is necessary, especially for the export of onions to overseas destinations that involve long transport times of sometimes 30 days in transit. As regards export options, he remains carefully optimistic. The good price-quality ratio makes Dutch onions competitive, according to him, and he definitely still sees more export potential for sales in Asia, Central America and the Caribbean.
More information:
Waterman Onions
Erik Waterman