CMA CGM opens logistics warehouse in Lebanon

The new 20,000-square-meter facility, located in Taanayel, Lebanon, can store up to 1,000 empty 20-foot equivalent (TEU) containers, according to French ocean carrier CMA CGM.    French container shipping company CMA CGM has opened its the first logistics storehouse in Lebanon in the heart of the Bekaa valley in the city of Taanayel, the company confirmed Oct. 11.
   With a total area of 20,000 square meters (215,278 square feet), the new logistics storehouse in Taanayel allows the storage of 1,000 empty 20-foot equivalent (TEU) containers, according to CMA CGM.
   “Thanks to this new facility, the CMA CGM Group responds to requests for import/export from Lebanon’s largest agricultural area,” the company said in a statement. “This logistics solution also facilitates the recovery of empty containers, thus reducing costs and saving considerable time.”
   CMA CGM said it’s continuing its commitment to the economic development of the country by offering “a tailor-made logistics solution dedicated to the needs of reefer customers in the richest agricultural, commercial and industrial region” of Lebanon.
   The Taanayel warehouse, located 50 km (31 miles) from the port of Beirut and 124 km (77 miles) from the port of Tripoli, is also at the crossroads of the Lebanese coast and Damascus, Syria on one of the Middle East’s more important trade routes.
   The location is strategic for the import and export of fruit and vegetables as well as for other products for Arab countries including Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, according to CMA CGM.
   “(T)he opening of the new Taanayel dry port brings us closer, creating new opportunities to serve our Bekaa clients,” CMA CGM Lebanon General Manager Joe Dakkak said in a statement. “We have always believed in our country’s potential, and this new investment is a true example of our faith in Lebanon’s economic development.”