The year 2021 was one of the best years ever for KWH Logistics. The large investments made during the last years have started bearing fruit and the company grew within all segments.
As one of Finland’s biggest port operators KWH Logistics has made several large investments during the last years. The company has established itself in several new ports as well as new cities in the inland.
These new investments are now starting to be seen in turnover and growth. The total volume handled in the ports during 2021 was around 16,5 million tonnes, which is an increase of 30 percent from the year before. The turnover grew by 10 percent.
The growth partly originated from the new investments in Tornio, Tahkoluoto, Koverhar and Mussalo. But the other areas also saw a good growth with increases both in project cargo, Ro-Ro traffic and freight forwarding.
Turnover M€
Investments and establishments in new cities
The single largest investments made by KWH Logistics are the bulk cargo handling facilities in the ports of Tahkoluoto and Mussalo. The facility in Tahkoluoto in Pori came into production during the autumn of 2021, and it is one of the reasons for the solid growth experienced by KWH Logistics during the year. The capacity at Tahkoluoto is already sold out up until the year 2023.
In Tornio, where KWH Logistics cooperates with Outokumpu, investments have been made in new cranes. Other new cities where KWH Logistics has established itself during 2021 are Raahe, Uusikaupunki, Akaa and Sotkamo. Most of these new establishments are for Adolf Lahti which offers logistics solutions and service for heavy industry.
Investments M€
Locations in Finland
New know-how and new services
A new area of specialization for KWH Logistics is logistics solutions for the growing battery industry. The mining company Terrafame appointed Rauanheimo as its logistics partner in Finland and Adolf Lahti has constructed a custom-made warehouse in Kokkola for an international actor in the battery business. This means that the division now has a unique know-how when it comes to logistics solutions for battery chemicals.
Another new addition for 2021 is the virtual ship clearance. For several years KWH Logistics has been offering physical ship clearance in the ports where they operate, but from now on they will be able to offer ship clearance in all Finnish ports through a digital service.
Growth also in older businesses
Not only the new sectors experienced a good growth during the previous year, the same can be said for the ports where KWH Logistics has been established for a long time. One of the reasons for this was the rapid expansion of wind power along the Finnish western coast, which increased demand for project cargo. The expansion of wind power will increase during the years to come, which is something that the port operators Blomberg Stevedoring and Rauanheimo are taking advantage of.
Backman-Trummer’s Freight Forwarding department had an increased number of orders which increased their turnover by 50 percent. This was in part due to the increased freight prices on the world market, and in part due to systematic market activities.
The machine renting business of Blomberg Rent was able to reach the highest yearly turnover yet during the past year.
Rauanheimo also experienced a good year with growing transport volumes from Russia. There was also an increase in the Ro-Ro traffic being conducted by the port operator Stevena in Hanko and Uusikaupunki.
Investments in sustainability and quality
During the past year, KWH Logistics has increased its investments in risk management, sustainability and quality, among other things by setting up a new position of ESQ Director. The efforts in sustainability have resulted in a switch to LED lighting and plans to increase the fleet of electric vehicles and implementing more sustainable transportation alternatives.
Processes have been developed to allow KWH Logistics to follow up on its emissions with the goal to be able to give customers more exact data regarding carbon dioxide emissions in the various operations. The Freight Forwarding -department will continue investing into the development of digital tools in order to be able to provide customers even better online information about their cargo, including reporting about the cargo’s environmental impact.
In terms of safety KWH Logistics has made further improvements in accident reports in order to prevent future accidents. Investments into staff have also been intensified, among other things by providing more training possibilities and improving internal communications.
Personnel
Risks and strengths
The year 2021 will be remembered as a year of pandemic, but KWH Logistics was less impacted by the pandemic than many other businesses. There was of course a container shortage which resulted in raised prices for freights and shipping but the impact on KWH Logistics as a whole was limited. Thanks to the fact that the business of the different subsidiaries differs quite a bit from each other, the risk diversification in the division is good. Project cargoes on the west coast are not, for example, impacted especially by larger trends on the world market.
Because of this diversification KWH Logistics can provide a superior service offering and complete solutions to its customers. This coupled with the fact that KWH Logistics is an independent and privately owned actor with good investment capacity results in an unbeatable combination.
The war in Ukraine entails severe economic sanctions against Russia. These measures as well as Russian countersanctions will have a negative impact on operations in the coming reporting period.
Management
Head of Division Joakim Laxåback, Bernt Björkholm, Managing Director for Blomberg Stevedoring & Blomberg Rent and Financial Director Anders Back.
ESQ Director Sofie Wiss, Tero Kosonen, Managing Director for Rauanheimo and Pekka Pöllänen, Managing Director for Adolf Lahti.
Markku Mäkipere, Managing Director for Stevena & Moonway, ICT Director Vesa Peltola and HR Director Mona Andersson-Kuorikoski.