COSCO Shipping Ports and Qingdao Port International Development have become partners with APM Terminals to operate the existing Vado Reefer Terminal, and the new deep-water container terminal under construction in Vado, Italy, opening in 2018.
APM Terminals has concluded an agreement with China COSCO Shipping Ports subject to customary conditions for the sale of a minority share in a new joint venture created for the APM Terminals Global Terminal Network’s operations in Vado, Italy.
A similar agreement was also concluded with Qingdao Port International Development (Hong Kong) Co., Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Qingdao Port International Co., Ltd. (06198.hk), which shall become an indirect minority shareholder in the joint venture.
The agreements include interests in both the existing Reefer Terminal in Vado, the largest refrigerated cargo facility on the Mediterranean Sea, and the new 800,000 TEU capacity deep-water terminal currently under construction at the Port of Vado.
APM Terminals will have a 50.1% share and will operate both the Reefer Terminal and the APM Terminals Vado container terminal; COSCO Shipping Ports will have a 40% share and Qingdao Port International Development (Hong Kong) Co., Limited a 9.9% share.
The signing ceremony with COSCO Shipping Ports was held in Shanghai, and attended by current APM Terminals CEO Kim Fejfer, as well as Mr. Morten Engelstoft, who will succeed Mr. Fejfer as CEO on November 1st.
Kim Fejfer said: “Through global partnerships and shared goals of operational excellence, there is much we can achieve together, even in the current difficult business environment, and we are pleased to build upon our close relationships with COSCO Shipping Ports and the Qingdao Port Group.”
PTI reported that with five new services calls added to APM Terminals’ (APMT) Cai Mep International Terminal (CMIT) in Vietnam since May, 2015, container volume had already surged by 130% in Q1, 2016.
