APM Terminals Poti is planning to expand the Poti Sea Port in the city of Poti, Georgia. The expansion will involve the construction of a new deep-water multipurpose port, which will be able to handle cargo throughputs of 50 million tonnes and two million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) per year.
An application was filed to secure the first-stage land usage permit for the proposed deep-water port in February 2020. It was approved by Georgia’s Ministry of Economic and Sustainable Development the following month.
Recommended White Papers
Recommended Buyers Guides
The estimated investment in the first phase of expansion will be $250m and the project is expected to be implemented in 24-30 months. The first stage is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2022, subject to the receipt of all necessary permits from the government.
The project will then move to the next phase, during which APM Terminals will conduct an environmental impact study and prepare detailed project documentation.
The expanded Poti Sea Port will serve as a modern gateway of the country. It will have the capacity to accommodate Panamax vessels and enhance the capacity of the logistic corridor. The investment will contribute to the creation of a transport corridor extending into Central Asia. In addition to construction jobs, the project will generate 250 direct jobs and 900 indirect jobs.
Poti Sea Port background
APM Terminals purchased the port in April 2011 and renovated the infrastructure and service facilities with a total investment of $80m. The upgrade included the construction of new rail and truck loading facilities along with a new customs centre.
The company established a grain processing terminal with a capacity of 500,000t a year in May 2013. The terminal provides an alternate route for exporting wheat from Central Asia to the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
Poti Sea Port expansion details
The Poti Sea Port is the largest port in the country and provides a gateway to Europe for traders from Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia. It handles liquids, passenger ferries, dry bulk and container traffic. The port includes 15 berths with a total quay length of 2,900m. The operations are supported by more than 20 quay cranes and 17km of rail track.
The expansion will create a total quay length of 700m with a water depth of 14.5m. The project will add 25ha of dedicated land to the port infrastructure to support bulk operation for yard and covered storage facilities.
It will allow the port to accommodate the largest vessels calling at ports in the Black Sea. The expanded facility will have the capacity to handle cargo lots of up to 60,000t per vessel.
Construction of Poti Sea Port
The expansion project will involve the development of a 1,700m-long breakwater and a quay with a depth of 13.5m. The 400m-long multipurpose quay will support the loading / unloading of dry bulk cargo and an additional 150,000 TEUs. The new berth is expected to have a capacity to handle 9,000 TEU container ships.
A 300m-long container quay will be constructed in the second phase to increase the annual container capacity of the port to more than one million TEU. The structure will accommodate three ship-to-shore (STS) cranes.
The design plan includes the construction of the new quay in front of the existing inland container terminal. The structure will allow the company to integrate the terminal yard, as well as rail and road infrastructure into the expanded port. The second phase of the port expansion will require a significant investment.
