APM Terminals seeks ports in Turkey where box growth twice that of GDP

MAERSK standalone port operator APM Terminals is looking to buy ports in Turkey, where container volumes are growing twice as fast as the economy, reports Bloomberg.

"We are definitely interested to have a port around Istanbul, in the Marmara region," said APMT country manager Mogens Wolf Larsen. "We can also look at the Mediterranean coast between Mersin and Iskenderun."

Despite rapid growth, the industry is half the size as Germany's, said Mr Larsen, adding that Turkey handled eight million TEU in 2013 with a 12 million TEU capacity.

"The container port business in Turkey is very underdeveloped," Mr Larsen said. "As Turkey opens up and starts accepting large ships, container port businesses will grow."

The Hague-based company plans to start operations at its container port, located in Aliaga peninsula in western Turkey from the end of next year, Mr Larsen said. The port will be fully operational from 2016. It's located next to a plant of Petkim Petrokimya Holding AS (PETKM), the country's biggest petrochemical maker. 

APMT will pay annual fees to Petkim while operating the facilities for 28 years. Goldman Sachs bought a 30 per cent stake in the port for US$250 million this year.