Abu Dhabi Ports calls off plan to sell bonds

Abu Dhabi: State-owned Abu Dhabi Ports Co (ADPC) has cancelled plans to issue bonds this year after securing enough financing for its $7.2-billion (Dh26.48 billion) Khalifa Port and Industrial Zone through its lenders.

Chief executive Tony Douglas also said yesterday he expected 7 per cent growth in container volumes this year due to the large pipeline of projects under way in Abu Dhabi.

ADPC said last July it may sell up to $1 billion in bonds in the first quarter of 2011 and had appointed National Bank of Abu Dhabi as financial adviser to draw up a long-term financial strategy.

Underlying growth

"The investment outlay for phase one of the Khalifa Port is Dh26.5 billion, all funded through bilateral funding agreements with a number of banks," Douglas told reporters at a conference organised by London-based Middle East Economic Digest.

Abu Dhabi is investing billions of dollars in infrastructure, real estate and tourism to diversify its economy away from oil revenues.

"We expect to see a 20 per cent growth in 2011, that is because one of our customers will be going into containers from palletised shipping," Douglas said.

"But underlying growth expected is 7 per cent," he said.

"Growth will be driven by mainly project cargo into Abu Dhabi where significantly large projects are being developed."

Abu Dhabi's Mina Zayed port handled 518,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), up 2 per cent over the previous year, Douglas said earlier yesterday.

Four times higher

Mina Zayed's operations will move to the new Khalifa Port in the fourth quarter of 2012, he said.

When the Khalifa Port's first phase becomes operational in 2012, it will have capacity of 2 million containers and 9 million tonnes of cargo a year, four times higher than existing capacity at Abu Dhabi's main Mina Zayed port.

"Ninety-five per cent of containers that come to Mina Zayed stays in Abu Dhabi — It is a destination port, so Khalifa Port will become a destination port."

Expansion plan