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Chinese group buys Turkish port for $940 mn
September 17, 2015, 5:45 am

Kumport has an annual capacity of 1.84 million TEUs of container traffic and has room for expansion to up to 3.5 million TEU capacity [Image: Kumport]

Kumport has an annual capacity of 1.84 million TEUs of container traffic and has room for expansion to up to 3.5 million TEU capacity [Image: Kumport]

A joint venture set up by a Chinese investor consortium has bought a 65 per cent stake inTurkey’s third largest container terminal for $940 million, the company announced Thursday.

China Merchants teamed up with COSCO Pacific Ltd. and a subsidiary of China Investment Corp. to buy the stake in the Turkish company that now effectively gives the Chinese group the control over its port facility.

A report filed by China COSCO Holdings to the Shanghai Stock Exchange said the investors purchased Kumport Terminal, located on the northwest coast of the Marmara Sea on the European side of Istanbul.

COSCO Pacific is a subsidiary of China COSCO Holdings, the country’s largest shipper.

Kumport has an annual capacity of 1.84 million TEUs of container traffic and has room for expansion to up to 3.5 million TEU capacity.

Located at a gateway to the Black Sea and a strategic interchange between Europe and Asia, the deal is a valuable investment opportunity for COSCO Pacific aiding in Beijing’s ambitious Silk Belt plans.

Turkey is a strategic location along the “One Belt One Road”, an infrastructure and trade network proposed by China.

Turkey expects to become a manufacturing and logistics base for Chinese enterprises, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing in July this year.

Turkey suggested a special free-trade zone that will enable Chinese firms to carry out trade and production in Turkey, said Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci during bilateral talks with Chinese Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng in Beijing.

 

TBP and Agencies