APM Terminals has opened its new terminal at Puerto Quetzal in Guatemala with an investment of $180m.
The new APM Terminals Quetzal facility is situated 98km away from Guatemala City and is equipped with fast and highly efficient trucker turnaround procedures that are intended to reduce travel periods for visiting trucks.
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It is capable of handling 340,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cargo and will be operated under a joint venture (JV) arrangement between APM Terminals (85%) and the IFC – World Bank (15%).
The facility has already added four new vessels into its operations.
APM Terminals chief commercial officer Henrik Pedersen said: “Every country wants access to a competitive port and we are proud to design our new container terminal around the country’s growth needs and Guatemalan businesses.
“APM Terminals Quetzal will play a strategic role in Guatemala’s economic future and competitiveness in world markets.
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By GlobalData“The container terminal you see here is a Guatemalan success story, run by Guatemalans with 170 new jobs created here and hundreds of indirect jobs for the future.”
APM Terminals has also announced plans to invest a further $145m in APM Terminals Quetzal over a period of 19 years.
Approximately 25.9% of Guatemala’s economy is currently represented by trade and most of the county’s economic development is concentrated along the Pacific coast.
APM Terminals Quetzal is the country’s newest Pacific gateway port and will be engaged in the export of various fruits and vegetables, coffee, grains, fertiliser, fish, cotton, textiles and tobacco, which account for around half of Guatemala’s exports.
Guatemalan ports handled a combined total of 1.57 million TEUs of cargo last year, surpassing Costa Rica with 1.34 million TEUs and ranking second highest in Central America after Panama.
