Peter T. Leach | May 12, 2011 6:38PM EDT
APM Terminals signed a 30-year concession contract with the Peruvian government Thursday for the development and operation of the multi-purpose Terminal Muelle Norte at the Port of Callao.
Peruvian President Alan Garcia signed the agreement with representatives of APM Terminals and local partner Central Portuaria in the Presidential Palace in Peru’s Capital City of Lima.
The Peruvian government on April 1 named APM Terminals Callao as the winner of the bidding process, which also attracted a bid from Hutchison Port Holdings.
Under the terms of the contract signed Thursday, APMT will invest $749 million to update and expand the existing facility into a modern multi-purpose terminal serving general, roll-on, roll-off, breakbulk and containerized cargos as well as cruise ships.
The new APMT concession in Peru is part of its strategy to focus new terminal investments in fast-growing emerging markets all over the world.
“Our vision is to transform Terminal Muelle Norte into a powerful economic generator for the people of Peru and to develop a world-class full-service port and infrastructure on the West Coast of South America,” Henrik Lundgaard Pedersen, APMT vice president for business development, Americas, said.
Pedersen signed the contract on behalf of APMT, and Klaus Burger signed as the representative of minority shareholder Central Portuaria which is part of the APMT Callao consortium.
“The key management positions have been filled and we are in the process of hiring administrative and operations staff as well as executing contracts with suppliers; orders have already been placed for new forklifts and reach stackers so that we will be ready to take over operations by July” Soren Sjostrand Jakobsen, APMT’s head of implementation, said. The contract calls for APMT to assume operational control of the terminal within 60 days of signing the concession agreement.
Planned improvements include the construction of a new grain silo and other related cargo handling improvements over the coming years. Also planned are the construction of new berths and the expansion of the container handling capabilities including new post-Panamax ship-to-shore cranes and rubber-tired gantry cranes.
When built to full capacity, Terminal Muelle Norte will employ approximately 1,500 personnel and will be able to handle 2.9 million 20-foot equivalent units of containers and 9.9 million tons of non‐containerized cargo annually. APM Terminals also operates local cargo inland services company Almacenes de Contenedores Sudamerica in Peru, with locations in Callao and Paita.
--Contact Peter T. Leach at pleach@joc.com.
