At the Port of Liverpool restructuring of it's containers division is to take place and the port on the Irish Sea will next week start a redundancy consultation process, following a marked deterioration in container volumes handled.

According to the Merseyside port, which has also been subject to strike action in recent weeks by Unite the Union who rejected a 10.2% increase in basic pay, said the decision was “extremely regrettable but now unavoidable, given the economic backdrop.”

The unitised cargo market is experiencing a significant decline in volume due to several factors which underpin the bleak outlook on the global economy; with rising interest rates, higher energy costs and weakening consumer demand for manufactured and imported goods.

Container volumes through UK ports fell by 17% during the last financial crisis and this took several years to recover.

It is widely expected the current economic challenges may lead to a much higher fall in disposable income over the coming 12 to 24 months.

A spokesperson for Peel Ports Group, operator of the Port of Liverpool said: “We have seen an increasing decline in the movement of containerised cargo for Liverpool over the last few months, in line with industry figures which show a 4.6% drop in volume across Europe. This, together with a recent sharp fall in container vessel charter rates of around 50%, indicate a rapid decline in throughput is expected over the next few months.

“Whilst this is an extremely regrettable situation, as a responsible employer, we need to restructure now in order to minimise the potential greater impact the downturn in container business will have on jobs, further down the line.

“We are exploring a number of different options to try and protect as many jobs as possible, including redeploying staff in other areas of the business which are less exposed to the economic crisis.

“We have invested heavily in building a business which has changed the outlook and prosperity for the Liverpool City Region, creating growth and jobs across the supply chain. Our aim is to grow the business further and create more jobs, not lose them. Every effort is being made to safeguard and protect as many jobs as possible and keep redundancies to a minimum.”