Refile: UPDATE 1-Abu Dhabi's Khalifa Port plans $1 bln expansion

COSCO SHIPPING Ports

11/12/2019 13:43

(Removes tag from headline)
    ABU DHABI, Dec 11 (Reuters) - The capacity of Abu Dhabi's
Khalifa Port will increase by 50% by the end of 2020 as part of
a 3.8 billion dirham ($1 billion) expansion of the emirate's
main port announced on Wednesday.
    The oil-rich capital of the United Arab Emirates is
investing billions of dollars in infrastructure to reduce the
emirate's dependence on oil and gas and the port is a key part
of its plans.     
    Khalifa Port, which opened in 2012, is between Abu Dhabi
city and the financial centre of Dubai where the region's
largest transshipment port Jebeli Ali is located. 
    The container port's handling capacity will increase to 7.5
million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) a year, up from 5
million, with a 1.6 billion dirham investment from Abu Dhabi
Terminals, owned by state-run Abu Dhabi Ports and Swiss-based
Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC). 
    "Khalifa Port always tries to be at the forefront and ahead
of other ports," said Mohamed al-Menhali, the port's acting
director.
    The port is expected to handle 2.5 million TEUs this year,
up from 1.7 million in 2018, according to state owner Abu Dhabi
Ports.
    The expansion will be partly self-financed with the rest
raised through local banks, executives said. 
    Khalifa Port will invest a further 2.2 billion dirhams on
the South Quay development and Khalifa Port Logistics which will
include new quay walls and additional terminal yard space to be
completed by the first quarter 2021. 
    The port's CSP Abu Dhabi Terminals facility, which opened in
April and is majority-owned by China's COSCO  1199.HK , has so
far handled 330,000 TEUs this year and is expected to handle
over 800,000 in 2020, Deputy CEO Naser Albusaaedi said. Its
annual handling capacity is 2.5 million TEUs.
    A further 1 million TEUs of capacity could be added to that
facility, Albusaaedi said, although no decision has been made.
    ($1 = 3.6728 UAE dirham)

 (Reporting by Alexander Cornwell; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
 ((alexander.cornwell@thomsonreuters.com))