Yildirim Group’s subsidiary Yilport Holding has secured the rights to Puerto Bolívar Port in Machala City, Ecuador in a 50-year concession, which will see Yilport committed to invest US$750 million in the port and allow the largest container ships globally to berth and receive services at Puerto Bolívar.
The concession agreement was signed on August 8, 2016 inside Puerto Bolívar. More than 1000 people attended the signing ceremony.
The deal marks the largest ever Turkish investment in Ecuador. Yilport Holding is to invest in five phases for the development and modernisation of the port, creating Latin America’s largest container terminal with 2,500,000 TEU annual container handling capacity.
Initially, Yilport will invest $230 million in the first phase, which will span three years. The dredging work will deepen the draft from ten metres to firstly 14 metres, and then to 17 metres.
A new, 450-metre-long quay will also be built and the terminal will be equipped with modern infrastructure and cranes.
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Upon completion, the port is set to become the largest and the most advanced container terminal on the Pacific coast of Latin America.
Puerto Bolívar will boost the foreign trade volume of Ecuador, and will constitute a strategic role in the global network of Yilport Holding.
Yilport Holding added the twenty-first port to its global portfolio in its drive towards being ranked among top 10 international port operators by 2025.
Yilport Holding will transfer its global expertise from 21 terminal operations around eight countries into Puerto Bolívar as the agreement goes into effect.
Puerto Bolívar will deliver superior service above international standards, and will be transformed into the largest container terminal in Latin America.
Fact File: Puerto Bolívar port is one of the world’s largest shipment points for fruits and seafood. Yilport won the tender for Puerto Bolívar in 2015. The preliminary agreement was signed in the presences of President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President of Ecuador Rafael Correa, coinciding with President Erdogan’s state visit to Ecuador in February, 2016.
