1. business and industrial
2. logistics
3. air freight

1/2012
Backman-Trummer Group Customer Publication
• Rapid growth in bulk
goods traffic at the Port of Kokkola
• The Port of Vaasa – A key link in the
wholesale steel trade
• A new sacking machine for
Stevena in Naantali
• Kokkolan Lastaus is
now Oy Adolf Lahti Yxpila Ab
Dear Reader,
H
ow many ports does Finland need to handle
its international cargo transport? This
issue comes up from time to time, usually in
discussions preceding decisions on fairways and
winter navigation. The threat of reductions in
Russian transit traffic and the consequent release
of capacity that this would cause have also been
raised in these discussions.
Sea transport is a diverse sector that includes
liquid and dry bulk cargos, containers, unit
goods, project transports, passenger traffic,
integrated industrial systems, exports/imports,
incoming and outgoing flows of road transport
and terminals. Together, these form a challenging
entity for which no single model is available.
A clearer picture can be obtained by viewing
transport modes and cargo flows from an overall
perspective than by focusing merely on the tonnes
of cargo handled at ports.
Terms such as short sea shipping and
marine highways refer to a mode of operation
in which cargos are transferred from land to
sea. The principal advantages of this mode
are its environmental friendliness, transport
security and cost effectiveness. To realize these
advantages you need to combine cargo flows at
the earliest possible stage, ensure short roadhaulage distances, and make use of intermodality
and logistics centres. Reducing the number of
ports will not serve the goals of this mode.
Although the Port of Vaasa does not have
priority in national evaluations, according to
a purely technical modelling study made for
Finland’s General Industry Federation, the
Vaasa Region, as the location for a logistics
centre, provides the best cost effectiveness
nation-wide. Short sea shipping combined
with an efficient road transport network and
logistics centres are the best way to achieve the
principal goals of transport, which are efficiency,
timeliness and environmental friendliness.
Sakari Mäki-Fränti
Managing Director
Oy Blomberg Stevedoring Ab
Rapid growth in bulk goods traffic at the Port of Kokkola
T
he Port of Kokkola is experiencing a period
of rapid growth. In the 2000s, the total cargo
volumes at the Port, which specialise in raw
materials handling, have risen from 3 million
tonnes to nearly 8 million. Kokkola is in fact the
fourth largest port in Finland and the largest for
bulk products. The growing transport needs of
the Finnish and Russian mining industry are the
major factors behind this development. The allweather terminal completed in 2005 and a regular
container transport service to Antwerp begun
some three years ago have also contributed to the
rise in shipments via Kokkola of highly processed
timber, consumer products and the export
products of SMEs.
Capesize classes more efficient,’ he points out.
According to Witting, long-term, profitable
cooperation with the port operator Rauanheimo
has been the main criterion for investment
decisions.
“Confidence in continued cooperation
with Rauanheimo has encouraged us to make
substantial investment in development of the Port.
In a port like Kokkola, which works on the tool
principle, stationary structures from the land to
cranes, transport systems and warehouses, are
the responsibility of the port authority while
the operator provides the handling facilities
and personnel. Here, too, cooperation with
Rauanheimo has been smooth,” says Witting.
Growth based on systematic
investment
Torbjörn Witting, director of the Port of Kokkola,
is pleased with the growth in cargo volume.
According to Witting, growth has been supported
by systematic investment. “An additional 370
metres of quay have been built during the last
three years and operations at the latest expansion
of the Hopeakivi harbour commenced at the
beginning of this year. Lifting capacity has been
increased in the last couple of years with five new
cranes, the largest of which has a capacity of 50
tonnes. We have also renovated transport systems
and the existing cranes. At present, acquisition of
two or three new cranes is planned; these would
make handling of vessels of the Panamax and
1/2012
Backman-Trummer Group Customer Publication
Editor-in-chief: Taru Gammelgård
Editor: Anneli Frantzén, Impact Communications
Layout: Mikko Luoto, Performer
Oy Backman-Trummer Ab
Teollisuuskatu 1, 65170 Vaasa
P. O. Box 49, 65101 Vaasa, Finland
Tel.: +358 6 323 9111
Fax: +358 6 323 9150
www.backman-trummer.fi
Cover: Stevena’s new sacking machine in Naantali
1/2012
Torbjörn Witting, director of the Port of Kokkola, is satisfied with the development of bulk
goods traffic.
A positive outlook for the future
All kinds of raw materials are transported
through the Port of Kokkola. Exports
predominate and Russian transit traffic accounts
for more than one-third of the volume. The
Port’s main customers include several mining
companies and industrial enterprises in the
mining industry processing chain. Witting sees
the cargo volumes of this customer group as the
source of greatest potential in the next few years.
“The Russian transit traffic will continue to
emphasize mining industry products. In Finland,
the Pyhäsalmi mine has been an important
customer for both us and Rauanheimo over
the last twenty years and Yara Siilinjärvi has
more recently been one of our largest domestic
customers. Material flows from the Talvivaara
mine also pass through Kokkola for the most
part,’ he explains.
“Of course we also follow the progress of new
mining projects in northern Finland,” he adds.
According to Witting, alongside the favourable
outlook, growth will also pose challenges over
which the Port has only limited control.
“A large part of the port’s traffic arrives by
rail, and the section of track between Kokkola and
Ylivieska is one of the most congested in Finland.
The volumes projected for this section require
a second track, which will probably be ready
in 2017. To avoid bottlenecks, it is crucial that
this schedule holds or can even be accelerated,”
Witting stresses.
Backman-Trummer in brief
B
ackman-Trummer is a group of companies
that concentrate on export and import
transport and port services. It provides its
customers with tailored logistics solutions.
Operations comprise road and rail transport, air
freight, shipping of containers and bulk goods,
and forwarding services. In addition, the group
offers its customers warehousing and stevedoring
services in ten ports of western Finland, from
Kalajoki to Hanko and in Hamina.
Backman-Trummer’s customers are leaders
in trade and industry. The group’s network of
partners covers transport hubs worldwide.
Backman-Trummer is part of the KWH Group.
Its subsidiaries are Oy Blomberg Stevedoring
Ab, BT-Logistore Oy Ab, Oy Adolf Lahti Yxpila
Ab, Ab Kristinestads Stevedoring Oy, Oy M.
Rauanheimo Ab, Stevena Oy and Talavuo Oy.
Backman-Trummer Group Customer Publication
Leppinen Steel Ltd. Oy & Esko Leppinen Oy:
The Port of Vaasa – A key link in the wholesale steel trade
T
blasting, primer-coatings or some
other preliminary treatment to
those who specialise in these
areas,” he says.
here are only a few
companies in Finland that
specialise in the wholesale steel
trade. Two of them operate in
Seinäjoki. Esko Leppinen Oy,
founded by Esko Leppinen in
1969, concentrate on the import
and sale of tubes and beams.
Oy Leppinen Steel Ltd., led by
Esko Leppinen’s son Tommi
Leppinen, concentrates on steel
plate. The companies acquire
their steel from European
manufacturers and import
most of it through the Port of
Vaasa. Cooperation with the
port operator Oy Blomberg
Stevedoring Ab is an important
element of their efficient logistics
chain.
Vaasa is the key import
harbour
Leppinen Steel and Esko
Leppinen Oy buy entire
shiploads of steel and Vaasa
is usually chosen as the port
of destination. Last year,
for example, the companies
imported 30,000 tonnes of steel
through Vaasa and by the end of
March of this year steel cargoes
had already been unloaded from
nine ships at the port. Unloading
The companies of Tommi Leppinen (on the left) and Esko Leppinen at Teräs- of cargoes, interim storage
and reloading onto trucks is
mäki in Seinäjoki offer their customers a diverse selection of steel products.
handled by Backman-Trummer’s
largely the same for both companies.
Steel in many forms
subsidiary Blomberg Stevedoring. Both Esko
Leppinen and Tommi Leppinen are pleased
“Our extensive clientele operates in many
Oy Leppinen Steel Ltd. and Esko Leppinen Oy
with the service provided by the operator.
different sectors throughout Finland and
operate next to each other in the Teräsmäki
“Handling cargoes requires professional
include metal and engineering companies,
industrial estate where they have some 25,000
crane manufacturers and building contractors,” skill and crane capacity, as a single bundle of
sq. metres of storage space at two different
beams may weigh 5 tonnes and a single steel
explains Tommi Leppinen. He points out that
premises. A new 10,000 sq. metre storage
plate as much as 12 tonnes. Plates may be
although a diverse clientele makes for a stable
facility is also under construction. Leppinen
12 metres in length and beams as long as 18
business, specialisation in the sector is the key
Steel’s product range includes steel plate of
metres,” says Tommi Leppinen in describing
to success.
various sizes and types. The product range
“Competition in the steel trade is constantly the demanding nature of the operation.
of Esko Leppinen Oy comprises steel beams
“The importance of port services will grow
increasing, so it’s best to focus on what you
of varying thicknesses, steel tubes, and flat,
in the future as our import volumes are clearly
know best. In our case that’s the wholesale
round and corner steel. The proximity of the
on the rise,” he states.
two companies provides obvious advantages in trade. We direct customers who need sandlogistics, as the suppliers and the customers are
A new, fully automatic sacking
machine for Stevena in Naantali
A
t the beginning of the year, a fully automatic
sacking machine representing the latest
technology was introduced by Stevena Oy in
Naantali. The Italian-made machine replaces two
older machines that lacked sufficient capacity
Backman-Trummer Group Customer Publication
to meet increased demand for sacking services.
Stevena’s employees dubbed the machine
‘Pavarotti’, which – besides the country of origin
– also refers to the impressive performance of the
machine.
The new sacking machine was located outside
the harbour area on the premises of
BT-Logistore, Stevena’s sister company.
Although it can be used for sacking all kinds of
bulk products, it’s being used at present mainly
to sack industrial products that are packed in
plastic sacks ranging in size from 5 to 40 kilos.
The sacking process has also been improved with
a new transport wagon in which the products to
be sacked can be hauled to the sacking machine
in lots of 30 tonnes. The efficiency of the new
machine is demonstrated by the fact that it
takes a maximum of two hours to sack a single
wagon-load. The filled sacks are loaded onto
pallets automatically by robot. Apart from better
customer service, there has also been an obvious
improvement in working conditions because of
the new, up-to-date facilities and automation of
the hard physical phases of the work.
Stevena is one of the few companies in
Finland providing commercial sacking services.
In addition to Naantali, the company also has
a sacking facility in Pori. A total of more than
one thousand truck- or container-loads of bulk
products packed in big or small sacks depart
annually via Stevena’s sacking facilities. Thanks
to the new sacking machine in Naantali, the
volume of small sacks in particular will continue
to increase.
1/2012
Kokkolan Lastaus is now Oy Adolf Lahti Yxpila Ab
Logistics solutions
O
y M. Rauanheimo Ab’s sister company
Kokkolan Lastaus Oy has changed its
name and is now Oy Adolf Lahti Yxpila Ab.
The story of Adolf Lahti goes back to 1927,
when Adolf Lahti of Oulu founded the ship
brokering and forwarding company
since 1927
Adolf Lahti & Co. together with sea captain
David Eklöf of Kokkola.
Decades of service-solution development
by Kokkolan Lastaus Oy is now making Adolf
Lahti a company whose expertise, flexibility
and enterprising spirit will be appreciated in
the Kokkola large industry estate and port and
outside Kokkola as well.
As the company is expanding and growing
its operations, a change in name to better
depict its present operations was in order.
Appointments
Oy M. Rauanheimo Ab
Jori Pyykkö
Jori Pyykkö, engineer,
has been appointed
forwarding supervisor.
He previously served as
supervisor at Ojala Yhtymä
Oy in Sievi, Finland, and
as an automation engineer
and supervisor at OMB
Kokkola Chemicals Oy.
Oy Blomberg
Stevedoring Ab
Another satisfied customer in the UK gets a new boat via Backman-Trummer’s short-sea link from
Finland to Tillbury. Cost effective ro-ro transports of big-volume cargoes reach Tillbury in less than
a week. Alternative ports are Rotterdam and Lübeck, which are also part of the ro-ro system.
Oy Backman-Trummer Ab
Teollisuuskatu 1, 65170 Vaasa
PL 49, 65101 Vaasa
Tel.: +358 20 777 1111
Fax: +358 20 777 1150
www.backman-trummer.fi
Forwarding and transport
Oy Blomberg Stevedoring Ab
Rahtitie 1, 65170 Vaasa
Tel.: +358 20 777 1211
Fax: +358 20 777 1231
www.blomberg.fi
Stevedoring and warehousing
BT-Logistore Oy Ab
Lisenssikatu 1, 21100 Naantali
Tel.: +358 2 4338 310
Fax: +358 2 8240 766
www.bt-logistore.fi
Warehousing services
Oy Adolf Lahti Yxpila Ab
Satamatullintie 5, 67900 Kokkola
Tel.: +358 20 777 1300
Fax: +358 20 777 1320
www.adolflahti.fi
Mill services and machine rental
Stevena Oy
Satamatie 13, 21100 Naantali
Tel.: +358 2 433 8300
Fax: +358 2 433 8340
www.stevena.fi
Stevedoring and warehousing
Ab Kristinestads Stevedoring Oy
Satama, 64100 Kristiinankaupunki
Tel.: +358 20 777 1281
Fax: +358 20 777 1232
www.kristinestadsstevedoring.fi
Stevedoring and warehousing
Talavuo Oy
Satamatie 13, 21100 Naantali
Tel.: +358 2 433 8300
Fax: +358 2 433 8340
Stevedoring
Oy M. Rauanheimo Ab
Satamatullintie 5, 67900 Kokkola
PL 254, 67101 Kokkola
Tel.: +358 20 777 1300
Fax: +358 20 777 1320
www.rauanheimo.com
Stevedoring and warehousing
Vaasa Stevedoring Oy
Reininkatu 3, 65170 Vaasa
Tel.: +358 20 777 1211
www.vaasastevedoring.fi
Renting of equipment and machinery
Filip Fredriksson
Captain
Filip Fredriksson has been
appointed Key Account
Manager – Projects &
Shipping at Oy Blomberg
Stevedoring Ab. He
worked previously in
vessel chartering at Prima
Shipping.