Britain to build £500m port to cope with flood of cheap Chinese electric vehicles

BRITAIN’S biggest port operator has unveiled plans for a £500m car terminal near Southampton to cope with a flood of electric vehicles (EV) from China.

Associated British Ports (ABP) aims to open the terminal by the end of the decade as it gears up for an anticipated surge in cheap Asian imports.

Chinese car shipments through Southampton were unknown a few years ago, but already number tens of thousands annually.

The tally is expected to surpass 100,000 in 2026, representing close to 20pc of all cars imported or exported through the Hampshire port.

While Germany was the biggest source of UK car imports last year, shipping vehicles worth £17bn, China ranks second at £4bn following a jump in sales of models from BYD, Jaecoo, Omoda and Maxus.

The total value imports stood at £44bn, almost two thirds more than the £28bn worth of vehicles that Britain exported.

China is making rapid inroads internationally after Beijing encouraged the early development of a domestic EV industry, putting the country years ahead of Western markets.

However, the flood of exports has sparked concerns abroad. Last year, former US president Joe Biden labelled attempts to “flood” the country with Chinese EVS a national security threat, while the EU has imposed heavy tariffs on imports to protect domestic manufacturers.

The UK has been far more open, and Alastair Welch, ABP’S regional director, said there had been a “fundamental shift in activity” as the Government’s net zero policies promote imports from China. He said: “As those vessels come into Europe, we’re the first port they encounter, with the least deviation from the main shipping lanes. So the demand is there if we have the capacity.”

ABP said it was close to exhausting the 56,000 car storage spaces at its main vehicle terminal in Southampton, while space for a further 6,000 on the west bank of the Solent will be full next year.

It has proposed developing a further site to the south of the existing complex, known as Solent Gateway, on land reclaimed from the sea in the 1960s. This development would be able to house tens of thousands more vehicles at any one time in multi-storey storage facilities.

The plans envisage the construction of a new jetty with berths for two specialist transporter ships, each able to carry as many as 7,000 cars.

‘As those vessels come into Europe, we’re the first port they encounter … so the demand is there’