Bruce Barnard | Aug 31, 2009 11:22AM EDT
DP World, the global container terminal operator, buys a majority stake in Brazil’s largest private multimodal facility in the city of Santos.
The Dubai-based company teamed up with Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht to buy a controlling stake in Empresa Brasileira de Terminals Portuarios (Embraport). Financial details were not disclosed.
Embraport is being built adjacent to Porto de Santos, Brazil’s largest container port, in Santos, Sao Paulo state.
The first phase, expected to cost around $500 million, is slated for completion in 2012 with an initial capacity of 1 million 20-foot equivalent units a year. It will be operated by DP World. The fully developed project will have a capacity of more than 1.5 million TEUs and about 2 billion liters of ethanol, DP World said.
“This is an unparalleled opportunity to enter Latin America’s largest economy and establish a strong position on the east coast, building on the network we already have in the region to expand our offering to our customers,” DP World CEO Mohammed Sharaf said.
Coimex Group, leader of the Embraport project since its inception, is reducing its shareholding but will remain a key member of the partnership.
DP World, the world’s fourth-largest container terminal operator, has operations in Argentina and Venezuela. It has frozen several projects following a decline in traffic, including the 3.5 million-TEU London Gateway container hub.
Contact Bruce Barnard at brucebarnard47@hotmail.com.
