The Suez Canal Container Terminal, located east of the northern entrance of the Suez Canal, at the convergence of the continents of Africa, Asia and Europe, is preparing for an even larger role in global trade as the 146 year-old Canal has completed a major expansion, which officially opened to great fanfare on August 6th. With two-way traffic now possible simultaneously, canal usage is expected to increase from the 17,148 vessel transits completed in 2014.
Approximately one tenth of all global seaborne trade passes through the Suez Canal, representing 963 million tons of cargo moved in 2014, including on container ships. Four additional Super-Post-Panamax cranes have been ordered and scheduled for delivery to SCCT in mid-2016, which will bring the terminal’s crane total to 24, increasing annual throughput capacity to 5.4 million TEUS, and making it the largest container terminal by capacity on the Mediterranean Sea.
The new STS cranes, representing an investment of USD $42 million will each have a 72 meter reach, and a height of 52 meters, with the ability to handle the world’s largest vessels now entering the global fleet. There are currently 29 vessels of 18,000 TEU capacity and above in service, with another 68 on order, deployed on the Far East/Europe trade lane, the world’s busiest, which relies upon Suez Canal transits. SCCT is the only container terminal in Egypt capable of working vessels of that size, and highlighting the importance of the terminal as a global and regional transshipment hub.
APM Terminals is the majority shareholder in SCCT, with a 55% ownership. Other shareholders include Chinese-based COSCO Pacific, with 20%, the Suez Canal Authority, with 10.3%, and the National Bank of Egypt, with 5%. The remaining shares are held by the Egyptian private sector. Over USD $800 million has been invested in the terminal, which opened in October 2004, and has become one of the busiest container facilities in the region, handling 3.5 million TEUS, primarily for transshipment, in 2014.
APM Terminals is the largest terminal operating company in Mediterranean Region, with 8.1 million TEUs handled in 2014 (weighted by equity share). The APM Terminals Global Terminal Network includes APM Terminals Algeciras, the busiest container terminal in the Mediterranean, with a throughput of 3.5 million TEUs in 2014; APM Terminals Tangier (1.6 million TEUs); a 33% share of Gioia Tauro MedCenter Container Terminal, in Italy (3 million TEUs); and 42% of Fos Seayard Container Terminal, in France (451,000 TEUs). APM Terminals Vado, on Italy’s Ligurian Coast, is scheduled to open in 2017, with an annual throughput capacity of 800,000 TEUs and the ability to accommodate vessels of up to 18,000 TEU capacity. APM Terminals Izmir, on Turkey’s Aegean Coast, will open in early 2016 with a capacity of 1.5 million TEUs, and the ability to accommodate Ultra-Large Container Ships as well.
APM Terminals recently divested its share in the Gioia Tauro MedCenter Terminal, and acquired Vado Ligure Reefer Terminal, which will consolidate operations upon completion of the new APM Terminals facility there.
Source: APM Terminals website
Source: APM Terminals website