A new purpose-built facility which will become the main agri-hub in Scotland is to be developed at the Port of Rosyth after agricultural specialist Cefetra Ltd signed a long-term contract with Forth Ports Ltd.

Under the agreement Forth Ports will develop the Port of Rosyth to provide Cefetra with a facility that will handle an extensive range of agricultural products.

The Port of Rosyth will be deepened to provide a true deep-water port capable of taking vessels carrying up to 50,000 tonnes of cargo. The existing storage facilities will be enhanced with the addition of a new, extensive, purpose built agricultural products terminal, increasing the storage capacity to circa 100k tonnes.

Cefetra said Rosyth’s location and logistical links to the motorway network make it ideally suited to supply all areas of Scotland and Northern England. In addition, Rosyth, being near to continental Europe, has advantages in short sea freight.

Andrew Mackay, managing director at Cefetra Ltd, said: “We are pleased to have been able to reach this agreement with Forth Ports and believe that the new Rosyth agri-hub will enable us to continue to serve our valued customers. We expect to increase the efficiency of our supply chains, taking advantage of scale and location, to bring additional benefits to our customers and to Scottish agriculture. Our expectation is to develop an annual throughput in excess of 500,000 tonnes of agricultural products, worth more than £100m.”

Charles Hammond, chief executive officer of Forth Ports Limited, added: “It’s great to have reached an agreement with Cefetra that will see us execute on another significant investment programme for a customer; reflecting our strategy of working with our customers to deliver supply chain solutions.

“The development at the Port of Rosyth reflects the port’s unrivalled logistics links as well as its excellent marine capability.

“We very much look forward to working with Cefetra, a long-standing Group customer to deliver this significant development, building on our overall activity within Scotland’s agricultural sector.”