Skip to main content

UK: FM Conway and Nynas agree Thames River bitumen storage deal

Infrastructure services contractor FM Conway has signed a deal to supply Nynas, a UK provider of bitumen binder, with bitumen from its recently rebuilt Imperial Wharf terminal. The facility is on the River Thames in the town of Gravesend, near the mouth of the river and down river from London. FM Conway invested around €3.5 million to refurbish the terminal which was finished last September. The terminal has the capacity to dock and store up to 7,500tonnes of bitumen. Under the deal, Nynas will bas
April 15, 2015 Read time: 3 mins
Infrastructure services contractor FM 2329 Conway has signed a deal to supply 294 Nynas, a UK provider of bitumen binder, with bitumen from its recently rebuilt Imperial Wharf terminal.

The facility is on the River Thames in the town of Gravesend, near the mouth of the river and down river from London.

FM Conway invested around €3.5 million to refurbish the terminal which was finished last September. The terminal has the capacity to dock and store up to 7,500tonnes of bitumen.

Under the deal, Nynas will base bitumen tankers permanently at the terminal for delivery to key locations in London and across the south of England.

Conway said the deal gives Nynas “a secure, cost-effective source of bitumen” in the south east of the UK, complementing its existing facilities in the Wirral, Dundee and Teesside.

FM Conway, established more than 50 years ago, has its own recycling facility at Dartford and an asphalt plant in Erith, both towns upstream from the renovated Imperial Wharf terminal facility.

David Smith, development director at FM Conway, said: “Achieving cost and carbon-efficiency when supplying projects in the south of England has always been challenging for our industry, with many sources of key materials located in the Midlands or the north.”

“This new supply point means we can respond more rapidly to our clients’ needs, in particular in urgent and emergency situations,” said Keith Sherlock, commercial director at Nynas. “It also makes the transport of bitumen to southern England sites far more cost-effective and environmentally friendly, which is crucial for us in the long term.”

Nynas manufactures its products at refineries in Europe as well as North and South America. Three of their facilities – Nynäshamn and Gothenburg in Sweden and Harburg in Germany – are owned by Nynas. The refinery in Eastham, in the UK, is a joint venture with Shell.

In January 2014, Nynas took over a base oil plant in Harburg with an annual production of specialty oils up to 355,000tonnes. This represents a 40% increase in the company's supply capability of naphthenic specialty oils.

Other Nynas production plants, such as in Antwerp in Belgium, are linked to the company through cooperation agreements. Nynas also has access to refining capacity in the Netherlands Antilles.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Ethiopia races on with projects
    June 13, 2012
    Ethiopia is pursuing a 10-year $2.4 billion development plan, part of which are ambitious road developments. Shem Oirere reports Ethiopia is hastening its pace towards accessing a share of the East Africa commodity market and opening itself up for foreign investment through the implementation of an ambitious road development strategy, the Road Sector Development Programme (RSDP). The landlocked nation has convinced a number of international lenders of the viability of RSDP, with some of them now loosening
  • SDLG wheeled loaders assisting in Georgia’s concrete production
    December 8, 2014
    A fleet of wheeled loaders from SDLG is playing a key link in the chain for producing concrete at a facility in Georgia. With this equipment HeidelbergCement Georgia and HeidelbergBeton Georgia are proving able to keep pace with an intensive production schedule at a number of concrete production sites across Georgia. Overall HeidelbergCement Caucasus has seven concrete and two cement manufacturing plants in Georgia that are running SDLG wheeled loaders. The company’s SDLG fleet comprises LG936L, LG953 a
  • Five roads of the future – cutting transport costs
    June 10, 2019
    Advances in road design and construction will deliver cost savings In the past 50 years there have been huge advancements in the automobile industry but the roads we drive on remain nearly unchanged. As cars get smarter so too should the infrastructure that supports them. Our planet is covered in roads. And by 2050 our global network of highways is projected to increase by 60%. Volvo Construction Equipment takes a look at possible technologies for the roads of the future, looking at some innovations
  • Benninghoven’s modern masterpiece
    April 4, 2013
    In 2012 Benninghoven were commissioned by Kostmann, an Austria-based consortium of companies involved in the production and refinement of raw materials, to build an asphalt mixing plant that included a stone tower silo system. The plant - TBA-3000-U –was to be sited at Weitendorf, a location offering good access to the motorway, the Styria regional capital, Graz, and the Austria-Slovenia border. However, the close proximity of agricultural land and private residential areas called for an adherence to strict