Gulftainer plans to pump $60m in Iraq expansion

UAE-based port operator Gulftainer says it is investing $60 million (Dh220m) in Iraq as part of its expansion plans in the region.

A senior Gulftainer official yesterday said that the company would develop three logistics hubs and port facilities across Iraq.

"Iraq offers huge potential because of the massive projects being planned in the oil and gas sector and in infrastructure development," Peter Richards, Managing Director of the Gulftainer Group, told Emirates Business. These multiple ports and logistics facilities will be developed with local partners and investors in Iraq, he said.

Gulftainer has won concessionary rights to manage two container and cargo terminals at Iraq's southern Umm Qasr port near Basra, and the first of these will begin operations with four gantries and 550 metres of berths from this July, Richards said.

As part of the agreement with the state-owned General Council for the Ports of Iraq, Gulftainer is expected to undertake some civil works to upgrade the berth structure and invest in new cargo-handling equipment at the port. Additionally, plans have been submitted to the authorities for a logistics and transport hub in southern Iraq to cater to upcoming growth along the Umm Qasr-Basra-Baghdad transport corridor.

Similarly, plans for a transport and logistics hub catering to the oil and gas industry in northern Iraq have been submitted for approval, Richards said. The company is to provide on-site and off-site transport, plant hire, storage, warehousing, freight forwarding, crane hire and workshop services at this facility. Gulftainer's third hub is coming up near Iraq's northern border. Work on this transport and logistics hub is due to begin in September.

Also, the company will break ground shortly for a $100m cargo village being built at Iraq's Sulaimaniyah Airport with a local partner, Richards said. This facility will target general cargo such as foodstuff and perishables as well as oil and gas-related equipment.

Gulftainer, which operates Sharjah's Khor Fakkan and Khalid ports, is also looking to take its 34-year-long expertise in port management to South Asia, where the company is in talks with authorities to negotiate terminal management and operations contracts for two ports.

Richards, who declined to name these ports, expects the deals to be finalised by July. Partners are also being sought in India for developing warehouses and logistics hubs across the country.

Gulftainer, which owns one of the largest heavy transport fleets in the UAE, will be putting money into building up its trucking fleets in Iraq and at its joint venture hub in Pakistan, which caters to defence logistics demand from the forces in Afghanistan.

Saudi Arabia and Qatar are also on the company's radar as these two GCC economies "were not much touched by the financial slowdown and continue to progress with projects in construction, infrastructure and transportation", he said.

Richard expects the economic recovery to continue through this year but said "the market is adopting a cautious, wait-and-watch strategy at present, particularly in view of the ongoing crisis in the European Union and fears of a further slump.

"A proper recovery will begin only in the last quarter of the year but the industry will not be as bullish as it was during the peak times in 2007 and 2008. A full recovery can be expected only in 2011," he said.

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