AD Ports signs $200m Safaga port concession

29 March 2023

Abu Dhabi’s AD Ports Group has signed a 30-year concession agreement with Egypt’s Red Sea Authority for the development and operation of a multipurpose terminal at Safaga Port.

AD Ports said it intends to invest up to $200m in superstructure and equipment, buildings and other real estate facilities and utilities network within the concession area. The majority of this capex will be spent in 2024 and 2025.

The Abu Dhabi-based firm has ruled out currency exposure with the operations of the port “as all revenues will be dollarized”.

RELATED READ: Egypt currency crisis stokes project delay fears

The terminal will be developed over an approximate area of 810,000 square metres and is set to be operational in the second quarter of 2025.

It will inca lude quay wall of up to 1,000 metres and it will have the capacity to handle 5 million tonnes of dry bulk and general cargo, 1 million tonnes of liquid bulk, 450,000 twenty-foot equivalent units of containerised cargo, and 50,000 car equivalent units of roll-on/roll-off cargo. 

AD Ports Added: “Safaga Port will be the first internationally operated port in the Upper Egypt region, bringing significant cost savings to traders, industries and businesses located in this region.” 

In addition to the Safaga port concession contract, other agreements were signed for cement terminals and grain silos in two other ports in Egypt

AD Ports has agreed to develop two cement terminals, requiring an investment of roughly $33m at prevailing market rates, in Al-Arish Port and West Port Said Port. They were signed with the General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone. The projects are expected to contribute to Egypt’s goal to double its cement exports to global markets.

The two, 15-year agreements were signed with the General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone for the construction of grain silos with a storage capacity of up to 60,000 tonnes in Al-Arish Port and 30,000 tonnes in West Port Said.

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Jennifer Aguinaldo
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