Gulftainer, a UAE-based logistics company, has signed a contract for operations in Recife Port, in Pernambuco, Brazil and is eyeing further expansion in Latin America.
The agreement will see operations starting in the second half of December, and Recife is the first foray in Latin America for the company, Brazil-Arab News Agency reported.
“We negotiated operation in the port directly. It is an operating agreement. In future, according to demand, we may participate in a tender,” said Joseph Bruno, Gulftainer’s general director for Brazil, in comments published by BANA.
According to Bruno, about 50 staff will be employed in the administrative, operational and commercial areas in Recife.
After its first year in operation in Recife Port, Gulftainer said it expects to have a throughput of between 35,000 and 55,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units), with operations reaching up to 100,000 TEU in two years, ANBA said.
Bruno was quoted as saying that Gulftainer also plans to expand its operation in other Brazilian ports, but did not reveal any specific locations.
“We are interested in one or two other areas in the Northeast, and one more in the southeast, but that is in the middle term,” he said. “At the moment, we are focussed on investing in Recife until we reach full capacity.”
Gulftainer’s initial investment in equipment in Recife is $25m, and includes new gantry cranes and two forklifts, with further investment due in 2012.
Gulftainer is responsible for the container terminals of Khorfakkan and Port Khalid in Sharjah, the Ruwais port in Abu Dhabi, and five other ports in the Comoros, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey and Russia.
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