Catching the international investment bug
Gulftainer is expanding its influence beyond its Sharjah boundaries
Alongside the ‘big four’ of DP World, HPH, APMT and PSA, others are steadily increasing their influence and geographical spread.
Apart from its well established operations at Khorfakkan and Sharjah container terminals, where volumes were up 10% last year, Gulftainer is now established operating Ruwais Port in Abu Dhabi, on behalf of the international plastics company Borouge.
Further afield, Gulftainer has activities in the Comoros, where a port management contract ‘is progressing successfully’ in Moroni; in Pakistan, where it is involved in a logistics and haulage joint venture; and in Turkey, where a logistics venture was set up three years ago. Terminal operations at the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr began in August last year. “The facility has already been a great success, with volumes steadily increasing,” says Gulftainer group commercial manager Keith Nuttall. “At the end of 2011, we will open the Iraq Container Terminal, providing two berths and shore gantry cranes – this facility will provide a major step forward for container handling in Umm Qasr and will be very necessary as volumes of cargo into the country are increasing very quickly.”
There is also plenty of activity in Gulftainer’s Russian joint venture, he adds, with several potential projects being assessed. Gulftainer has also extended into South America, signing an agreement earlier this year to start terminal operations at Recife, Brazil.
“There are several other overseas ventures being finalised in 2011, and the company is looking carefully and pragmatically to continue to develop new initiatives overseas in the ports, logistics and transportation sectors,” says Mr Nuttall.
Bremen-based Eurogate says the forecast for 2011 is positive and there will be a rise in volumes for the year. Specifically, there will be new services in Hamburg that will push up volumes there in the second half, says spokeswoman Corinna Romke.
Construction of the Eurogate Container Terminal at Wilhelmshaven is proceeding well and on time, and marketing has begun, she says: “Germany’s only deepwater port will go into operation in August 2012.”
Further expansion in Bremerhaven is not possible but there are changes; in the second half of 2011, MSC Gate’s quay will move 400 metres to the north, to free up space for offshore wind power equipment. In Hamburg, the approval process for expansion of the terminal area towards the Elbe is under way. In Russia, meanwhile, Eurogate will start testing at the Ust Luga Container Terminal at the end of this year.
Serious expansion is on the cards for Philippines-based International Container Terminal Services (ICTSI), which announced in June an all-cash offer for Singapore-listed Portek International – whose portfolio includes terminals in Indonesia, Algeria, Malta and Gabon, adding considerably to ICTSI’s network of 22 terminals in 17 countries. At the start of this year, ICTSI took over operation of the US Port of Portland’s Terminal 6, and this has since been followed by new port operations deals in Tamil Nadu, India, and at the Croatian Adriatic Gate Container Terminal.
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