DP World wins long-term concession at Port Saint John

The Dubai-based port terminal operator signed a 30-year lease with Port Saint John on the East Coast of Canada to operate its West Side Container Terminal, DP World and port officials said in a joint statement Thursday.    DP World has secured a long-term concession for the operation of a container terminal at Port Saint John on the East Coast of Canada, according to a joint statement from the company and the port.
   The Dubai-based port terminal operator signed a 30-year lease to operate Port Saint John’s West Side Container Terminal beginning Jan. 1, 2017. Under the agreement, DP World will introduce new assets and revamp cargo handling equipment at the terminal, representing the largest private sector investment at Port Saint John in decades.
   Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
   The news follows recent funding commitments from Canada’s Federal and Provincial Governments and Port Saint John for the C$205 million (U.S. $157 million) West Side Modernization Project, which aims to revitalize the container terminal by deepening container berths and the port’s main channel over the next seven years.
   DP World already operates terminals in the ports of Prince Rupert, Vancouver and Nanaimo in Canada, but has thus far been unsuccessful in entering the United States market. The move to operate at Port Saint John could allow the company to compete with traditional U.S. cargo gateways along the eastern seaboard like the ports of New York and Boston.
   Port Saint John is the fifth largest container port by volume in Canada and the second largest on the East Coast. It is Eastern Canada’s largest port by tonnage and has a diverse cargo base, including dry and liquid bulk, break bulk and cruise, according to the port.
   “We are delighted to further extend our presence in Canada to the Port of Saint John, New Brunswick,” DP World Group Chairman and CEO Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem said of the agreement. “We believe that the future growth prospects for the port are strong and we are excited to be participating with Saint John Port Authority in their expansion plans. Our investments and commitment to Canada are for the long term, contributing to trade and the development of its national and local economies as well as providing employment for people with a leader of world trade.
   “We are delighted to have a presence on the east coast of North America for the first time and see great growth potential,” he added. “We are excited to work with the shipping community and our worldwide network and have been working with port management on our plans to build on the experience and success of our operations in Western Canada. We will be making a major effort to grow business which will in turn have positive economic impact in the region.”
   Peter Gaulton, chair of the board of directors at Port Saint John said the port made the decision in part due to DP World’s experience in existing operations in British Columbia and around the world.
   “We are pleased to join together with a global trade partner who shares our vision for the growth potential of this port based on its geographic location and rail optionality,” said Gaulton.
   “We wanted to put this port back on the map,” Port Saint John President and CEO Jim Quinn said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. “We needed to increase our business, modernize our assets and [work with] a business partner that could share the vision and take us to the next step. DP is exactly that partner that will help us do that.”
   Operations and Commercial Director for DP World Americas Matthew Hoag told WSJ the company is still interested in operating at a U.S. port, under the right circumstances.
   “We are not opposed to the U.S., but the opportunity hasn’t presented itself yet,” said Hoag.
   “We’ll be there to provide a solution for shippers looking to get to eastern North America,” he added. “There’s definitely an alternative gateway opportunity to New York, Boston and to a lesser extent Halifax.”
   DP World earlier this week signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with state-run Taiwan International Ports Corporation to develop a new terminal at Kaohsiung Port in Taiwan. The MOU for Kaohsiung’s Terminal 7 area marks the first global port terminal operator to enter the Taiwan market.