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By: Bruce Barnard
Cosco Shipping Ports is tipped as a likely frontrunner in the bidding for a tender to build and operate a third container
terminal at the southern Spanish port of Algeciras as the ambitious Chinese company seeks to expand its European
footprint. The Algeciras Port Authority has set a Nov. 30 deadline for companies to submit bids for a 50-year
concession for a public or dedicated terminal that must include “automated solutions.”Cosco Shipping Ports, which
combines the port units of the recently merged Chinese ocean carriers Cosco and China Shipping Group, two weeks
ago sealed the acquisition of a 51 percent stake in the Greek port of Piraeus, where it already handles about 3 million
20-foot-equivalent units annually. The Port of Algeciras is a key Mediterranean transshipment hub and gateway to the
Iberian Peninsula.The Hong Kong-based company’s drive to extend its presence in the fast-growing Mediterranean
transshipment market suffered a setback, however, in April, when it lost out to a consortium led by Eurogate, the
German terminal operator, in the bid for a 25-year contract to operate the Limassol Container Terminal in Cyprus.
The Algeciras tender is expected to attract widespread interest as the Spanish port is a major success story, posting
the fastest growth in the world’s top 30 container ports in the first half of the year, with traffic up 13.1 percent to 2.35
million TEUs in a global market that is expected to grow by just 0.3 percent in 2016, according to industry analyst
Alphaliner. The third terminal, to be built next to the intermodal freight railway terminal, will pose a major challenge to
the existing terminals operated by Maersk’s port arm APM Terminals and TTIA Algeciras, which handled 4.5 million
TEUs in 2015, the second-highest volume in Spain after Valencia. APM Terminals has an agreement with Maersk Line
under which the carrier has dedicated capacity in Algeciras — and at its new automated terminal in Rotterdam and a
terminal in Tangier, Morocco — and is responsible for any financial risks.Piraeus is one of the most successful
operations in Cosco’s domestic and global portfolio, with traffic surging by 15.2 percent in July to 323,300 TEUs for a
seven-month increase of 14.2 percent to just more than 2 million TEUs.Cosco is also expanding its presence in
northern Europe, acquiring a 35 percent stake in Rotterdam’s Euromax terminal in May from Hong Kong’s Hutchison
Port Holdings for 125.4 million euros ($141.7 million).The company also operates terminals in the Belgian ports of
Antwerp, which handled 1.2 million TEUs in the first seven months of the year, and Zeebrugge, where traffic topped
200,000 TEUs.
Source: The Journal of Commerce
Cosco Shipping Ports is tipped as a likely frontrunner in the bidding for a tender to build and operate a third container
terminal at the southern Spanish port of Algeciras as the ambitious Chinese company seeks to expand its European
footprint. The Algeciras Port Authority has set a Nov. 30 deadline for companies to submit bids for a 50-year
concession for a public or dedicated terminal that must include “automated solutions.”Cosco Shipping Ports, which
combines the port units of the recently merged Chinese ocean carriers Cosco and China Shipping Group, two weeks
ago sealed the acquisition of a 51 percent stake in the Greek port of Piraeus, where it already handles about 3 million
20-foot-equivalent units annually. The Port of Algeciras is a key Mediterranean transshipment hub and gateway to the
Iberian Peninsula.The Hong Kong-based company’s drive to extend its presence in the fast-growing Mediterranean
transshipment market suffered a setback, however, in April, when it lost out to a consortium led by Eurogate, the
German terminal operator, in the bid for a 25-year contract to operate the Limassol Container Terminal in Cyprus.
The Algeciras tender is expected to attract widespread interest as the Spanish port is a major success story, posting
the fastest growth in the world’s top 30 container ports in the first half of the year, with traffic up 13.1 percent to 2.35
million TEUs in a global market that is expected to grow by just 0.3 percent in 2016, according to industry analyst
Alphaliner. The third terminal, to be built next to the intermodal freight railway terminal, will pose a major challenge to
the existing terminals operated by Maersk’s port arm APM Terminals and TTIA Algeciras, which handled 4.5 million
TEUs in 2015, the second-highest volume in Spain after Valencia. APM Terminals has an agreement with Maersk Line
under which the carrier has dedicated capacity in Algeciras — and at its new automated terminal in Rotterdam and a
terminal in Tangier, Morocco — and is responsible for any financial risks.Piraeus is one of the most successful
operations in Cosco’s domestic and global portfolio, with traffic surging by 15.2 percent in July to 323,300 TEUs for a
seven-month increase of 14.2 percent to just more than 2 million TEUs.Cosco is also expanding its presence in
northern Europe, acquiring a 35 percent stake in Rotterdam’s Euromax terminal in May from Hong Kong’s Hutchison
Port Holdings for 125.4 million euros ($141.7 million).The company also operates terminals in the Belgian ports of
Antwerp, which handled 1.2 million TEUs in the first seven months of the year, and Zeebrugge, where traffic topped
200,000 TEUs.
Source: The Journal of Commerce