MUSCAT, JULY 17 - Port of Salalah marked yet another milestone in its ongoing initiative to promote Oman as a logistics hub for the region with the successful commissioning of a state-of-the-art agricultural bulk terminal in the port. The facility has been developed by Arabian Sea Port Services LLC which is a joint venture of the Spanish conglomerate Algeposa group, Oasis Development Co SAOC and Al Thabat Holding LLC. The Algeposa Group is one of the leading multimodal logistics operator in Spain specialised in the handling of bulk grains, fertilisers, steel products, forest product etc. with an annual turnover of more than $200 million and has a presence in most Spanish ports and rail terminals and continues to expand globally. The company is committed to develop the bulk grain logistics in Oman and offer an integrated management service dedicated to the import and export of Agri-Bulk Commodities such as wheat, corn, soybean, sugar and rice, as well as general cargo.
The recently commissioned first phase of the project comprises of a 25,000 sqm facility with a capacity of storing 60,000 tons of bulk grains and handling equipment capable of handling 15,000 MT of grain per day. The facility also provides the customers value added services like quality control services, pest control bagging services, and so on. The second phase, which is already in being planned will double the capacity of the facility and is expected to be able to handle up to 500,000 MT per annum.
Port of Salalah CEO Andrew Dawes said: “As one of the leading ports in the region, we are naturally positioned to leverage both our location and capabilities to diversify our service portfolio. This newly commissioned facility allows the port to not only provide enhanced services to our existing customers but also facilitate attracting new customers who have shown interest in using Salalah as the hub for the region. We believe that the expertise of Algeposa combined with the capabilities of Port of Salalah will provide a superior customer experience and result in more companies using Salalah as their hub for food and agricultural commodities in the future.”
Iker Elicegui, Country Manager of Aleposa stated “Our committed investment in the project which aggregates to over RO 5 million (about $12.5 million) is one of our biggest investments outside Europe. The proximity of Salalah to all major consumption centres in the Middle East and Africa combined with the good connectivity allows our customers have a reliable and cost efficient supply chain. The first phase of the facility is already attracting huge interest from many of our global customers who are looking at locating their operations in the region. We also see significant potential to use our facility to act as a catalyst for downstream industries in food processing, packaging and labelling to cater to the entire region.”
The management of Port of Salalah continues to work on a number of new business opportunities that will contribute to the growth of the shipping & logistics sector in Oman and support the Government’s vision of seeing the logistics sector as one of the pillars of economic growth and diversification of the Sultanate of Oman.
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