The Québec Port Authority (“QPA”) is proud to announce the signing of a long-term commercial agreement with Hutchison Ports, the world’s leading port network, and CN (Canadian National Railway), the leading North American transportation and supply chain company, to build and operate the new container terminal, known as project Laurentia (previously Beauport 2020), the company said in its release.
This agreement increases Hutchison Ports’ global network to 52 ports spanning 27 countries including the United Kingdom, Spain, Poland, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Australia, China, Pakistan, Egypt, Argentina, Mexico and Panama. Hutchison Ports plays a strong role in the maritime industry worldwide and handles close to 85 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) per year, representing approximately 11% of the global containerised cargo trade.
The $775 million project will be financed primarily through the joint investment of the three partners. The QPA also has ongoing discussions with the federal and provincial governments to complete the financing. The new terminal facility will support hundreds of new jobs at full operations. Hutchison Ports was selected after a competitive process in which QPA invited the leading international port operators to provide proposals to participate in the project. HSBC acted as QPA’s sole strategic and financial advisor throughout the process.
The agreement stipulates that Hutchison Ports will build the most environmentally and technologically advanced cargo-handling facility in North America. It is a unique opportunity for the Port of Québec’s future container terminal to become one of the terminals with the smallest ecological footprint in the world.
According to a study from KPMG, for the construction phase alone, the project will generate $500 million in economic benefits and an average of 1267 jobs a year. Ultimately, the project will generate $84 million in economic benefits a year and will create nearly 800 jobs, including 500 direct ones, in Québec.
The deep-water container terminal project is currently under an environmental assessment process with the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency.
About the Québec Port Authority
As the last deep-water port before the Great Lakes (15 m deep at low tide), the Port of Québec is the gateway to the industrial and agricultural heart of North America, handling an average of 27M tons of cargo every year. Located inland the continent, 1,300 kilometers from the Atlantic, the Port provides access to the large U.S. Midwest market, which serves more than 100 million customers. The ships that pass through the Port are central to a supply chain that transports approximately $20 billion of goods each year. The Port of Québec is a maritime hub, which that generates and supports over 13,000 direct and indirect jobs according to the latest KPMG/SECOR study. The Québec Port Authority is an autonomous federal agency constituted under the Canada Marine Act.
About Hutchison Ports
Hutchison Ports is the port and related services division of CK Hutchison Holdings Limited (CK Hutchison). Hutchison Ports is the world’s leading port investor, developer and operator with a network of port operations in 52 ports spanning 27 countries throughout Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, the Americas and Australasia. Over the years, Hutchison Ports has expanded into other logistics and transportation-related businesses, including cruise ship terminals, airport operations, distribution centres, rail services and ship repair facilities.
In 2018, Hutchison Ports handled a combined throughput of 84.6 million TEU.