UAE port operator Gulftainer is to seek financing from investors and banks to invest as much as US$3 billion (AED11 billion) over the next five years to double its container capacity and acquire assets.
The company's chief executive Peter Richards said the aim is to reach 10 million TEU in five years, increase its cargo shipment handling and engage investors to help fund its $2 to $3b billion expansion.
'We should not be restricted to TEU and containers because a lot of the entities that we're looking at now are not just containers but a lot of them are break bulk and general cargoes. We hope to continue our growth in the US market and at the same time we are looking at east and west Africa, and we are looking at Asia.'
Gulftainer's main operations are located in the Middle East, where countries are looking to expand their maritime transport capacity to cater to increased trade and higher economic growth.
Ports in the Middle East have announced plans to add capacity totalling about 57 million TEU by 2030, almost doubling the current level, according to the Boston Consulting Group. From 2011 to 2016, the compound annual growth rate of container throughput stood at 4 per cent, which exceeded the global average, the consultancy said in a report this month.
Gulftainer is expanding globally, and in September, signed a 50-year $600 million concession agreement to operate and expand the Port of Wilmington in state of Delaware in the United States. Around $400 million will be invested in the development of a 1.2 million TEU facility at the Edge Moor complex previously operated by chemicals company DuPont and acquired by the Diamond State Port Corporation in 2016. The agreement is Gulftainer's second US venture following its earlier $100 million investment in Florida's Port Canaveral in 2015.
The port operator currently manages nine terminals in the US, Brazil and the Middle East, according to The National of Abu Dhabi.
Gulftainer is looking at signing concession agreements and snapping up assets in order to reach its growth target.
'We are looking at two to three entities to buy an existing business here in the Middle East and the US,' said Mr Richards, declining to give more details. 'I am hoping the USA one will be concluded in 2019, the Middle east one maybe in 2020.'
The company is also hoping to enter Africa next year, 'a continent that has so much of raw materials that the world needs at this time and the only way to get those out of Africa is to build good gateways.'
The company's chief executive Peter Richards said the aim is to reach 10 million TEU in five years, increase its cargo shipment handling and engage investors to help fund its $2 to $3b billion expansion.
'We should not be restricted to TEU and containers because a lot of the entities that we're looking at now are not just containers but a lot of them are break bulk and general cargoes. We hope to continue our growth in the US market and at the same time we are looking at east and west Africa, and we are looking at Asia.'
Gulftainer's main operations are located in the Middle East, where countries are looking to expand their maritime transport capacity to cater to increased trade and higher economic growth.
Ports in the Middle East have announced plans to add capacity totalling about 57 million TEU by 2030, almost doubling the current level, according to the Boston Consulting Group. From 2011 to 2016, the compound annual growth rate of container throughput stood at 4 per cent, which exceeded the global average, the consultancy said in a report this month.
Gulftainer is expanding globally, and in September, signed a 50-year $600 million concession agreement to operate and expand the Port of Wilmington in state of Delaware in the United States. Around $400 million will be invested in the development of a 1.2 million TEU facility at the Edge Moor complex previously operated by chemicals company DuPont and acquired by the Diamond State Port Corporation in 2016. The agreement is Gulftainer's second US venture following its earlier $100 million investment in Florida's Port Canaveral in 2015.
The port operator currently manages nine terminals in the US, Brazil and the Middle East, according to The National of Abu Dhabi.
Gulftainer is looking at signing concession agreements and snapping up assets in order to reach its growth target.
'We are looking at two to three entities to buy an existing business here in the Middle East and the US,' said Mr Richards, declining to give more details. 'I am hoping the USA one will be concluded in 2019, the Middle east one maybe in 2020.'
The company is also hoping to enter Africa next year, 'a continent that has so much of raw materials that the world needs at this time and the only way to get those out of Africa is to build good gateways.'