AD Ports to build bulk cargo facility in Karachi

AD Ports Group said Noatum Ports, its international ports operating subsidiary, will develop and operate a clean bulk handling and storage facility for agricultural goods at Karachi Port in Pakistan.

The facility will be built as a joint venture between Karachi Gateway Terminal Multipurpose Limited (KGTML), a division of Noatum Ports, and Louis Dreyfus Company Pakistan, a subsidiary of Dutch-French multinational Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC).

As part of the agreement, KGTML will invest in the design and construction of the food-grade clean bulk facility to support the handling and storage of dry agricultural bulk cargo.

LDC has committed to providing an inbound volume of agricultural commodities as part of plans to grow its presence in Pakistan. 

The undisclosed investment will be in addition to the $75 million that AD Ports Group committed to the first phase of KGTML, launched in 2024.

In addition to KGTML, AD Ports is developing, operating and managing the Karachi Gateway Terminal Limited container terminal at Karachi Port. 

The Abu Dhabi-listed port operator entered the Pakistan market in 2023 through long-term concessions to operate container and bulk cargo berths at Karachi Port.  

In August the company said it was exploring the development of a new industrial zone near Pakistan’s Karachi and Qasim ports, following the opening of its first representative office in Islamabad.

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Pakistan is a maritime gateway to Central Asia and a vital component of AD Ports’ plan to build an integrated trade corridor spanning from China to Europe. The group has made inroads into key markets along this corridor, including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Georgia.

AD Ports has a free float of nearly 25 percent, while ADQ, the sovereign wealth fund, owns a 75 percent stake. 

The stock was trading 0.6 percent lower at AED4.46 on Friday afternoon and is down 8 percent over the past 12 months.