AD Ports Group has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Alexander Global Logistics to establish and launch a transshipment hub for pulp and paper products in Khalifa Port.

AD Ports Group said in a press statement that in the first stage, 20,000 square metres of quayside warehousing would be readied by the third quarter of 2022 for the hub.

It said the hub would serve the UAE, and wider other Gulf markets.

The statement said the announcement marks the latest in a series of developments at Khalifa Port aimed at expanding the deep water port’s capabilities to support a wide variety of industries.

Last year, AD Ports Group signed a 50-year land lease agreement with Anchorage Investment that will see the development of a grain storage and processing plant at Khalifa Port that will be overseen by agro commodity processor National Feed.

Last year also saw the signing of a 35-year concession agreement between AD Ports Group and CMA CGM Group, one of the world’s leading providers of shipping and logistics solutions. As per the agreement, the two parties will work closely together to launch a new 570-million UAE dirham ($154 million) terminal in Khalifa Port that will be operate by a new joint venture owned by CMA CGM (70 percent stake) and AD Ports Group (30 percent).

The statement also noted that progress is already underway with the development of Abu Dhabi’s first greenfield commercial bulk liquid storage terminal that is being built as part of a strategic agreement signed with Saudi Arabia-based Arabian Chemical Terminals (ACT) back in 2020.

(Writing by SA Kader; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)