Egypt to invest $50m in Suez Canal Economic Zone
By Reuters
Egypt’s Suez Canal Economic Zone and its Suez Canal Container Terminal (SCCT) will invest $50 million at Port Said East port.
It would also lower the fees it charges in a bid to boost its competitiveness.
Opened in 2004, SCCT is operated by majority shareholder APM Terminals, part of Denmark’s A.P. Moller-Maersk MAERSKb.CO.
Located at the northern end of the Suez Canal, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, it is part of Port Said East port, an international trans-shipment hub with deep water facilities.
Investments under the agreement announced on Tuesday include heightening six ship-to-shore cranes to handle more mega vessels, and providing at least 15 new rubber tyre gantry cranes, a joint statement from the SC Zone and the SCCT said.
Two tunnels connecting the port to the western side of the canal opened recently, improving access for Egyptian trade, though the tunnels currently close at night.
The SC Zone and SCCT said they expected the tunnels to be fully operational around the clock “in the near future”.
The port has struggled to attract transshipment business in recent years after fees were raised in 2015 and a bridge across the Suez Canal was closed for security reasons in 2016.
Much of the potential business went to the Greek port of Piraeus, industry sources said.
Last year the port saw some recovery, handling 3.1 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), 21% higher than in 2018, and it is aiming to maintain that level in 2020 despite the impact of the new coronavirus outbreak, SCCT CEO Lars Vang Christensen said at a media conference in Cairo.
Fees at the port will be lowered from Wednesday, said Yehia Zaki, head of the SC Zone, without giving details.