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

  • Producing recycled materials at an airport for surface use
    October 1, 2018
    Recycling of materials has been carried out at Cologne/Bonn Airport in a move to boost efficiency Using the Wirtgen KMA 220 mobile cold recycling mixing plant allows road construction materials to be recycled or upgraded onsite and avoids the need for numerous transport trips. The system is also economical, as became clear from a job at Cologne/Bonn airport at the end of 2017. There the plant, located immediately next to the job site, produced around 11,000tonnes of materials for a hydraulically bound ba
  • E&E Event in Vienna: Transforming bitumen
    November 25, 2022
    The recent E&E Event in Vienna suggests that decarbonisation, digitalisation and diversification are fast changing the road paving sector, reports Kristina Smith.
  • FM Conway secures road contracts with London borough of Newham
    March 14, 2017
    Infrastructure services company FM Conway has won two highways services contracts by the London Borough of Newham worth up to £40 million over four years. The two contracts cover highway maintenance and roads improvement schemes for Newham’s 419km of streets, including surfacing, civil engineering services, specialist road marking and drainage support. The new contracts build on the existing 10-year partnership.
  • Benefits of bitumen technology research
    March 15, 2012
    Bitumen technology is benefiting from years of research and development - Kristina Smith. On a 2.7km loop of road in Auburn in Alabama, US, a lorry driver drives his triple-truck round and round. During his eight-hour shift, he will have covered 544km, with another driver waiting to take over from him for the next shift. Their mission is to seriously damage the road. This is the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT), where sponsors from states and private companies pay to test out new materials and