Gulftainer Company Limited United Arab Emirates Vision for Growth - Port Strategy Article

Online, August 28, 2014 (Newswire.com) - The operator is aiming to expand its global portfolio to 35 terminals by 2020 handling 18m teu annually across five continents. This would in essence make it one of the top six global terminal operators.

Some may say that this is an over optimistic target, but Peter Richards, managing director, Gulftainer, said it’s perfectly do-able. Apparently the operator has more than 70 port and logistics opportunities in the pipeline which it’s currently looking into.

“Gulftainer has a good reputation for efficiency. Location is not a restriction for us but the majority of opportunities coming our way are in south America and Africa,” Mr Richards told Port Strategy.

He pointed out that Gulftainer has two acquisitions in the pipeline for the first quarter of 2014 – including one on the east coast of the United States.

“I have been asked why we would do this in the economic climate. But the truth is that the east coast of the US is a good proposition for future growth. The best time to acquire lower end assets is before they start rising in value. We’re not aiming to acquire a 1m teu terminal each time but for the more niche 200 to 300,000 teu range. These terminals are readily available, it’s just a case of opening your eyes and looking around.”

Currently, Gulftainer has 11 terminals worldwide, 15 if you take into account dry ports.

Mr Richards said to PS that there are two important opportunities on the table that could increase the Gultainer portfolio by 20 terminals – if these came to fruition by 2015, the operator could slash its growth target by five years.