Brexit means more shipments for fewer goods as firms unbundle loads

The efficiency gains of the single market are being replaced by increased delays and higher costs on goods coming from Britain as shipping firms unbundle loads to reduce red tape.

rexit has resulted in British imports being spread across more trailers and containers, making trade less “efficient” and more expensive.

“There is less tonnes being carried in each container, in each trailer, than there was before, and that’s solely down to Brexit,” said Dublin Port chief executive Eamonn O’Reilly.

“It’s a hassle to combine a lot of loads into one trailer coming from Britain. You will have multiple customs entries to do. It’s the precise opposite of […] the benefits that were seen when the single market was introduced in 1992.”

The average cargo load per container or trailer passing through Dublin Port is down 4.2pc on 2019 levels, in gross tonnes, while the number of trailers and containers is down just 0.8pc.

“It’s not down to there being a lower volume of goods being imported,” said Mr O’Reilly. “It’s just being imported less efficiently.”

Importing mixed loads from Britain, especially food, plants or animal products, requires more paperwork and physical checks than single loads, making it more time consuming and costly, as one wrong customs code can throw off an entire consignment. So loads are being separated.

The trend means Dublin Port will need more space to accommodate the higher number of deliveries post-pandemic, Mr O’Reilly said.

However, the port has temporarily lost almost 15 hectares of land which was set aside for Revenue, agriculture and health officials to carry out Brexit checks – but is now not being used.

That is because 89pc of all goods imports from Britain are now ‘green routed’ with no need for paperwork or veterinary inspections.

Progress on recouping the land from state agencies has been “frustratingly slow”, Mr O’Reilly said.

“We look at 20 football pitches that, for the most part, are unused.

“We have a crying need for that land and we’re continuing to try to make progress to get a lot of that back.”

Brexit has seen a permanent fall-off in Irish imports from Britain and an increase in trade with continental Europe and Northern Ireland.

Although imports from Britain have recovered somewhat this year, Ireland’s reliance on trade with Britain has fallen permanently, with just over half of all of Dublin’s Port’s trade now done with Britain, compared to two-thirds before Brexit.

Eugene Drennan, the head of the Irish Road Haulage Association, says goods are being diverted through Northern Ireland because of easements introduced by the UK and EU, which he said amounted to “official smuggling”.

“I think all of the supply chain operators understand how things work nowadays, and they’ve chosen the routes that work best for them to move their goods,” Mr O’Reilly said, noting they may have new suppliers in Europe.