Egypt terminal projects 13% volume increase
The Suez Canal Container Terminal (SCCT), which handled 2.4 million TEUs in 2008, expects volumes to grow 13 percent this year.
The company made the comments following a visit last week by a delegation of senior Egyptian officials, including President Hosni Mubarak.
The 148-acre terminal at the northern end of the Suez Canal is in the midst of an expansion that it says will increase capacity to 5.4 million TEUs and make it the largest terminal on the Mediterranean. SCCT said that in 2008 local container volume quadrupled, while it also handled about 20 percent of all Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea transshipment moves.
SCCT is a partnership between Egyptian and foreign investors. APM Terminals, an affiliate of the A.P. Moller – Maersk Group, has a 55 percent stake, while 20 percent is owned by COSCO Pacific, 10 percent by the Suez Canal Authority, 5 percent by the National Bank of Egypt, and 10 percent by other private investors.