DP World, seeking to strengthens its stake in the transport arteries of northern Europe, has announced it will take full control of the planned container terminal at Liège Port in Belgium.
The Dubai-based port operator said that it would take over the shares owned by Euroports in the Trilogiport terminal.
The container terminal will cover 100 hectares along the Albert Canal, a small and shallow waterway located in northeastern Belgium, but for DP World involvement in the project is a logical step in its expansion in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, Arabian Supply Chain reported.
DP World has been operating a terminal in Grobbendonk, in the province of Antwerp in Belgium since 2011 and the operation of two terminals, one at each end of the canal, will create synergies, DP World said.
The new project is expected to be completed next year and will create more than 1,000 jobs.
DP World is an active player in developed markets such as Europe, where economic growth has recently re-emerged after the financial crisis. The company holds port operations in Belgium, France, Germany, Romania and Spain and is close to launching operations in Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
Last November DP World began work at London Gateway, which will have a TEU capacity of 3.5-million per year when fully developed.
“DP World supports our strategy to connect Antwerp and Rotterdam to Germany, the Netherlands and France via Liège,” said Louis Bertrand, the director general of the Liège Port Authority.
Last month, DP World said that it was aiming to outperform average annual market growth this year after reporting a 9.3 percent rise in throughput in the first half of the year. Gross container volumes that DP World handled rose to 29.4-million units during the period.
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