DP World says Brazil's Embraport to start operations in Q1
Dubai-based DP World said operations at the Embraport terminal in Brazil are expected to start in the first quarter of 2013, Dow Jones reports.
DP World's chairman, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview operations at Embraport, which will require an investment of 2.3 billion Brazilian reais ($1.13 billion), are on track to reach full capacity by the end of next year.
Embraport is located in the port of Santos, which is Brazil's biggest. It is being built by DP World along with Brazil's Odebrecht Transport and the Coimex Group. The terminal will have a capacity to handle two million 20-foot-equivalent units, or TEUs, and two billion liters (520 million gallons) of bulk liquids.
DP World is the third-biggest port operator in the world. It operates more than 60 terminals on six continents. The company says container handling generates about 80% of its revenue.
The company, majority controlled by the government, reported profits of $247 million for the first six months of 2012, up slightly from $246 million a year earlier. It had revenue of $1.53 billion in the period, compared to $1.50 billion in the same period in 2011.
Company executives said in August that they saw little improvement in the global economy after the first half of 2012, as international trade remains weak. However, Sultan Bin Sulayem said Monday he is optimistic that there will be a turnaround in the global economy soon.
"We see growth in every market that we have, except in Europe," Sultan Bin Sulayem said. "We believe the market is coming out of recession, so we are really optimistic," he added.
Sultan Bin Sulayem pointed to DP World's terminal in the port of Callao, located just north of the Peruvian capital in Lima, where the company expects to see an increase in shipments. DP World expects to handle 1.4 million TEUs at its terminal in Callao this year, which would be higher than the 1.2 million TEUs handled in 2011, he said.
The expected increase in shipment volumes comes as Peru has seen a decline in the value of its exports in recent months largely because of a decrease in metal prices. Mineral exports account for about 60% of Peru's total exports.
Sultan Bin Sulayem did not give any specific plans for further expansions, but he did say the company is open to new opportunities.
"We always look for investments if it is in a place where our customers want us to be," he said. "But we don't have any concrete plans."