Egyptian ports could see more than USD 1 bn in foreign investment as international companies look to expand capacity and capitalize on Egypt’s position as a strategic trading route. Under agreements signed Thursday with Hutchison Ports and AP Moller-Maersk, as much as USD 1.3 bn could be invested in the development of the Ain Sokhna, Dekheila and East Port Said ports.

#1- An international consortium could invest USD 800 mn to develop the Ain Sokhna and Dekheila ports under initial agreements signed last week, according to a cabinet statement Thursday.

Who’s involved: Hutchison Ports is working on new multi-purpose container terminals at the ports and has entered a consortium with COSCO and CMA CMG for Sokhna and MSC for Dekheila. The contracts will see the companies develop, operate and manage the terminals.

The developments will raise the ports’ combined annual capacity to more than 3.5 mn TEU, and create 2k jobs, the statement said. Construction of the Dekheila station, which includes a berth with a capacity for 1.5 mn TEUs, has already started with initial investments of EGP 3.4 bn.

WATCH THIS SPACE- The East Port Said port might also soon get new multi-purpose stations, as the General Authority of the Suez Canal Economic Zone looks to build Egypt’s capacity for handling containers, former SCZone head Yehia Zaki said.

#2- AP Moller-Maersk signs agreement for USD 500 mn East Port Said Port investment: AP Moller-Maersk, the world’s largest container line, signed a contract with the Suez Canal Economic Zone to expand the Suez Canal Container Terminal (SCCT) in East Port Said port on Thursday, according to a cabinet statement. The project should see the Danish shipping giant invest USD 500 mn to expand the terminal’s capacity by almost 40%, the company said last month.

Where the money’s going: The investment will be earmarked for a new 1k-meter container berth, adjacent to the existing 500-meter berth, which is expected to raise the port’s annual capacity by almost 40%. The new berth will have an annual capacity of 2 mn TEU (a standard shipping and terminal industry measurement), significantly expanding the port’s current capacity, which currently stands at 5.4 mn TEU a year. The port handled 3.8 mn TEU in 2021, up 3% from 2020.

A greener terminal: AP Moller-Maersk will also increase the number of electricity-operated cranes used for the new berth in a bid to reduce the terminal’s emissions and transition it to a green terminal by the end of 2030, according to the statement.

East Port Said is one of our most efficient ports. The port was the highest-ranked Egyptian port among the 370 ports in the World Bank and S&P Global’s Container Port Performance Index for 2021, coming in at #15 globally for management efficiency.