COSCOCS completes Piraeus Port acquisition

China COSCO Shipping on Wednesday officially purchased a 51 percent stake in Greece’s largest port from the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund and will buy another 16 percent share within five years.    China COSCO Shipping (COSCOCS) on Wednesday officially completed its purchase of a majority stake in Greece’s largest port.
   The Chinese-owned shipping conglomerate purchased a 51 percent stake in Piraeus Port from the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund for 280.5 million euros (U.S. $312.51 million).
   Under the terms of the deal, COSCOCS will buy an additional 16 percent share for 88 million euros within five years and invest 350 million euros in the port over the next 10 years.
   COSCOCS President Wan Min rang the opening bell at the Athens stock exchange to mark the completion of the agreement.
   “The Piraeus project represents a key milestone in the Belt and Road initiative, and the port’s growth and prosperity will boost economic development both in China and Greece, ushering in a new era of trade cooperation and cultural exchange between east and west,” Wan Min said of the deal.
   China COSCO Shipping was formed earlier this year at the behest of the Chinese government via the merger of former state-owned conglomerates COSCO and China Shipping (CSCL). Following the integration of the two firms, the combined company is projected to be the fourth largest container carrier worldwide by operating fleet capacity behind Maersk Line, MSC and CMA CGM, which recently purchased APL parent Neptune Orient Line.
   COSCO’s terminal operator arm, COSCO Pacific, has been operating one of the port’s container terminals since 2009 and the company is investing 230 million euros to build a second container terminal at the port.
   A total of 13 regularly scheduled region-to-region liner services call at Piraeus, according to ocean carrier schedule and capacity database BlueWater Reporting. Of those loops, five are operated by the CKYHE Alliance – comprised of COSCO, “K” Line, Yang Ming, Hanjin, and Evergreen Line –  between Asia and the Mediterranean: the NE7, NE2, MD1/PM1, MD2 and FEM.
   In addition, CSCL, currently a member of the Ocean3 Alliance with CMA CGM and UASC, calls the port on the alliance’s Asia-Mediterranean BEX loop. COSCO also purchases slots on ZIM’s ZCA loop between the Mediterranean and United States East Coast, which also calls the Greek port.
   In 2015, the Piraeus Port Authority reported a profit after tax of 8.4 million euros, a 23.8 percent increase from the previous year, despite revenues slipping 4.3 percent year-over-year to 99.9 million euros. Container through put for the year fell 8.3 percent to 3.29 million TEUs compared with 2014 volumes.