APMT, Bolloré preferred bidders on Ivory Coast terminal

   A consortium of APM Terminals, Bolloré Africa Logistics and the French industrial conglomerate Bouygues has been named the preferred bidder to manage a second container terminal at the Port of Abidjan in Ivory Coast.
   The $590 million project would be covered by a 21-year concession. The new terminal is slated to have a depth of 16 meters to accommodate vessels of up to 8,000 TEUs and offer 1,100 meters of berth and 35 hectares of yard space, as Abidjan seeks a greater role as a regional container hub for West Africa.
   Abidjan is already one of the busiest container ports in West Africa, and a key regional transshipment hub with throughput of 600,000 TEUs in 2012. 
   APM Terminals is the largest terminal operator in West Africa, with a presence in nine existing facilities in the Ivory Coast, Liberia, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, the Republic of the Congo, and Angola. APM Terminals Inland Services in the Ivory Coast has locations in Abidjan and San Pedro.
   Ivory Coast (Cote d’Ivoire) has a population of 21.9 million and is the world’s largest producer and exporter of cocoa beans. The nation is also is a major exporter of coffee and palm oil. Primary export markets are the Netherlands, France and the United States, while the largest import sources are Nigeria, France and China. – Eric Johnson