DUBAI: June 07, 2016. DP World has won a 50-year concession for the development of new multi-purpose port at Posorja, 65 kms. from Ecuador’s existing marine port at Guayaquil.
Construction of the US$500 million first phase that will have an annual capacity of 750,000 TEU is expected to start within the next six to nine months and take two years to complete.
The new port will provide a 15 meter draft compared to the current 9.75 meters at Guayaquil; additional capacity for Guayaquil’s container terminals that handled 1.75 million TEU in 2015; better logistics for the world’s largest banana exporting country; and long-term expansion potential with up to about 2,000 metres of berth and over 200 hectares of terminal area.
Total investment in the new venture will exceed US$1 billion and be implemented together with Consorcio Nobis and Grupo Vilaseca – Ecuadorian conglomerates with interests that include agribusiness, real estate and packaging.
Roberto Dunn, executive director of Consorcio Nobis said: “We are excited to partner with DP World and Grupo Vilaseca on this landmark project. DP World Posorja will offer Ecuadorean importers and exporters a unique deep-water alternative that will dramatically improve the competitiveness of their products in world markets and has the potential to transform the Ecuadorean economy.”
DP World group chairman and CEO Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, who had earlier met with the president of Argentina Mauricio Macri to discuss further investment in that country said: “We are delighted to extend our South American footprint with a major investment in Ecuador. The additional value it will bring to the economy is compelling, increasing competitiveness through the provision of modern container terminal services in central Ecuador.”
Bin Sulayem said the new investment would add to DP World’s existing network in Argentina, Brazil, Peru and Suriname.
(Pictured at the signing ceremony left to right: Jorge Glass, vice president of Ecuador; Rafael Correa, president of Ecuador; Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem; and Isabel Noboa, chairwoman of Consorcio Nobis.)
