Post-Brexit trade frictions have “significantly altered” freight flows between Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland as Irish businesses opt to send goods directly into Europe, according to an official report.
The volume of roll-on roll-off cargo transported between Britain and the Ireland fell by nearly a third since the Brexit deal came into force in January as Irish exporters looked to avoid the risk of customs delays at the UK’s border with the EU.
Data from the Irish Maritime Development Office showed ro-ro volumes between Ireland and Britain were down to 355,000 units in the first half of 2021 — 29 per cent lower than in the same period of 2019.
At the same time, Britain’s share of ro-ro traffic with Ireland has fallen from 84 per cent two years ago to 67 per cent in the second quarter of this year.
By contrast, shipments to the EU avoiding the UK doubled in the first six months of the year, taking the overall share of ro-ro freight going directly to Europe to a third of all traffic.
The report added: “From early 2021, it was clear that haulage companies based in Northern Ireland had transferred some traffic away from ro-ro services in the Republic of Ireland in order to avoid the new customs requirements involved between Ireland and UK ports.”
Peter Summerton, managing director of McCulla Ireland, a leading Irish haulier, said on Thursday that the sharp shift towards direct ferry routes from Ireland into Europe had arisen because Irish businesses had simply decided to avoid the risk of crossing the UK en route to EU customers via the so-called “land bridge”.
“The land bridge was the most cost-effective route between Ireland and the EU, but the cost-benefit analysis has changed because of the risk of products getting stuck in checks as goods travel from Britain into the EU,” he said.
The statistics underline how Irish importers and exporters have refigured their supply chains at the expense of Welsh ports such as Holyhead and Fishguard and trucking groups that operate in the UK.
“The ferry companies have opened up new routes and the supply base has jumped on them. It might take hours longer and costs hundreds of pounds more, but there is no risk of products getting stuck for a day — it de-risks supply chains for suppliers and hauliers,” Summerton added.
Ferry operators Stena Line, Irish Ferries, CLdN and Brittany Ferries have launched new direct services from Ireland this year to destinations including Zeebrugge, Bilbao and Santander.
Stena Line, which operates both ferries and UK Irish Sea ports, said it had doubled capacity on the Rosslare-Cherbourg route before new Brexit trading arrangements came into force last January and added further capacity in the spring.
The company said it was still running more than double capacity on the direct route from Ireland to Europe compared to before Brexit, but that freight volumes were starting to pick up on routes to Britain from Ireland and Northern Ireland.
“The land bridge volumes are still not back to pre-Brexit levels, which was expected, but as Covid-19 restrictions ease we are starting to see more customers choosing the land bridge again. We are also seeing an increase in volumes on the routes from Belfast and Liverpool, Heysham and Cairnryan,” it added.
The Irish government agency said the second-quarter figures provided a clear indication of post-Brexit changes to trade flows between the two countries since the first three months of the year were distorted by Brexit-related stockpiling and coronavirus lockdown measures.
Source: Economy - ft.com
