Hutchison Ports seals acquisition of APM Terminals Rotterdam

Hutchison Ports Netherlands B.V., a subsidiary of Hutchison Ports, has signed an agreement to acquire the Rotterdam container terminal APM Terminals Rotterdam (APMTR) from APMT.

APMTR is located adjacent to Hutchison Ports’ existing ECT Delta terminal in the Maasvlakte area of Europe’s largest port. It has 1,600 metres of deep-water quay serviced by 13 ship-to-shore gantry cranes.

“Over the past eighteen months, the various parties have worked intensively and constructively together with all relevant parties, including APMTR’s works council and trade unions, to complete the transaction,” Rolf Nielsen, Head of Hub Terminals APMT said.

“The sale gives APMTR the best possible future with a good security for jobs for its employees.”

“We already handle the majority of containers in the port through ECT’s Delta and Euromax terminals. The addition of APMTR will further enhance our ability to offer a first class and flexible service to our customers,” Clemence Cheng, Managing Director of Hutchison Ports Europe said.

“We will continue to serve Maersk Line’s existing business at the terminal and will work with the workforce to develop the customer and volume base to meet growing demand.  We have the opportunity to redevelop and enhance the facility in the future and look forward to continuing to grow our business in the port.”

The Netherlands-based terminal operator APM Terminals, a subsidiary of Maersk Group, signed a letter of intent to divest its container terminal APM Terminals Rotterdam in December 2019.

As informed at the time, the parties agreed that APM Terminals Rotterdam will continue to exist as an independent organization with a 5-year volume guarantee from the parent company, and no forced redundancies within 4 years of signing the agreement.

The volume of freight handled in the port of Rotterdam in the first quarter of this year totaled 115.8 million tonnes, a 3.0% increase over the same period last year.

The port’s terminals handled a substantially higher number of containers (+4.5%). 

As such, the port of Rotterdam has marked progress in its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.