Razon’s ICTSI expands terminal at Port of Batumi
LISTED port operator International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) said it has officially opened the expansion of its terminal at the Port of Batumi in Georgia.
In a statement, ICTSI said its capacity development at the Batumi International Container Terminal (BICT) is meant to help operations by improving the processing of existing cargo flows and allowing space for new business.
“This new investment consolidates and expands BICT’s competitive position. A comprehensive dredging program, undertaken in cooperation with Batumi Sea Port, provides an 11.5-meter draught in the port’s fairway and alongside BICT’s quay line allowing easy access for feedermax vessels at the port and making it Georgia’s deepest draught port,” Hans-Ole Madsen, ICTSI senior vicepresident in Europe, Middle East and Africa Head, said in the statement.
Mr. Madsen said the company also built a new container freight station that has a 180-meter rail spur that will enable it to conduct crossstuffing from containers to rail cars.
“[W]e have also expanded container and truck storage areas, and following the completion of a new highway to Batumi, introduced a new, dedicated two-lane gate complex for BICT,” Mr. Madsen said.
ICTSI has been operating its own container terminal and dry bulk handling facility in Batumi, Georgia since 2007. Its 48-year concession also grants it exclusivity for container handling in the port.
The company said the expansion of BICT increases its container handling capacity to 200,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEUs) annually. The project also supports the Georgian government’s plans to develop the area as a transport-logistic hub for the Caucasus and Central Asia.
The Razon-led firm posted an attributable net income of $153.29 million in the January to September period, up 2.66% from same period last year due to a 10% increase in revenues from port operations reaching $1 billion. —