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China’s COSCO Shipping Ports (CSPL) has acquired a 25 percent stake in Sokhna new container terminal in Egypt for $375 million.
The state-sponsored project is a new terminal, which will be constructed and operated by a joint venture which will also include CSPL, the port operator said in a press statement.
The operating period is 30 years, CSPL said, adding that the container terminal’s throughput capacity after completion will reach 1.7 million TEU.
The Port of Sokhna is one of Egypt’s major ports located south of the Suez Canal entrance, approximately 120 km east of Cairo.
“The development of the economic zone will help the Port of Sokhna to continue to increase its competitiveness in the Red Sea region and will become an important logistics hub in the region and Africa as a whole,” the statement said.
The Hong Kong-listed CSPL already has a non-controlling terminal in Egypt - the Port Said Suez Canal Terminal.
The statement noted that the investment in the Sokhna container terminal will help the company improve its terminal network in the regions and optimise its global layout.
In addition, the port will boost trade links between China, Egypt, and Africa.
CSPL’s wholly-owned subsidiary COSCO SHIPPING Ports Limited – Abu Dhabi currently operates CSP Abu Dhabi Terminal with a design capacity of 2.5 million TEU and the largest Container Freight Station in the Middle East under a 35-year container terminal concession agreement with Abu Dhabi Ports signed in September 2016.
(Writing by P Deol; Editing by Anoop Menon)
