CSCL unit buys 24% stake in terminal in Belgium
March 28, 2013 Category Logistics, Ports & sea transport
China Shipping Terminal Development will make its first terminal investment in Europe after agreeing to buy a 24% stake in APM Terminals Zeebrugge. The move came six months after the firm, which is wholly owned by China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL), expressed interest in taking a stake in the Zeebrugge facility, one of three terminals at the port. The company will acquire its interest from APM Terminals, the ports division of AP Moller-Maersk, which owns 75%. Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG) holds the remaining 25% interest in APM Terminals Zeebrugge which it bought for €27.16 million in 2010. The deal should be finalized by the end of June. Mark Geilenkirchen, Managing Director of APM Terminals Zeebrugge, declined to say how much China Shipping will pay for its stake, but he hoped it would generate more container traffic through the terminal. “The reason why we are selling is that we get hold of an Asian carrier,” according to Geilenkirchen. He said CSCL has one service calling at Zeebrugge, adding that talks to expand the number of services are being held. China Shipping Terminal Development has stakes in terminals in Los Angeles, Seattle and Egypt together with interests in 13 port facilities in China. The two-berth Zeebrugge terminal handles about 350,000 TEU a year but has an annual handling capacity of 1 million TEU. Jan Vannieuwenburg, General Manager for China and Asia at the Port of Zeebrugge, said the deal sent “a very important message to the Chinese market. More than 50% of Zeebrugge’s cargo is China-related”. CSCL owns and operates a fleet of about 140 vessels including eight 14,074 TEU container ships dedicated to Asia-Europe services, the South China Morning Post reports.
- KURT VANDEPUTTE (UMICORE) APPOINTED CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF THE FLANDERS-CHINA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE (FCCC)
- Webinar: “Knowing Your Chinese Partner” – May 26, 2021, 10 am – 12 am
- EMA starts rolling review of CoronaVac, WHO approves Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use
- The Global Times warns not to politicize the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI)
- Hainan to become biggest duty-free market in the world