China COSCO Shipping Corp, the country’s largest shipping group, announced that it has acquired an additional 16% stake in the Greek port of Piraeus, marking a fresh step in turning the port into a major international transit hub for products and services between Asia and Europe. It raises the Chinese company’s stake in Piraeus Port Authority (PPA) to 67%. Under the agreement signed between Greek government-owned Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF) and COSCO Shipping in 2016, the Chinese investor paid €280.5 million to HRADF for the initial acquisition of a 51% stake in PPA. It will pay an additional €88 million within five years for the 16% in PPA.
The Port of Piraeus has already become a major trading and transportation hub for goods both ways, said Xu Lirong, Chairman of Shanghai-based COSCO Shipping. He added that Piraeus Port has been expanded, upgraded, linked to railway networks and saw robust growth, after COSCO Shipping began managing the port’s container terminals in 2009. For the next step, he said the group will work with all partners to build Piraeus Port into a regional logistics hub, and open more shipping routes and railroads to enhance the port’s competitiveness. The Chinese group has been using Piraeus Port as a transshipment hub for Asian exports to Europe arriving on container vessels from China, as it is the nearest western port to Egypt’s Suez Canal. In 2010, shipping containers processed in Piraeus Port totaled 880,000 TEU, while in 2020 it reached 5.45 million TEU, despite the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Thanks to its encouraging performance and infrastructure, the port is able to stay resilient in the face of the unprecedented turmoil caused by the pandemic,” said Tassos Vamvakidis, Commercial Manager of Piraeus Container Terminal, a COSCO Shipping subsidiary. The Chinese operator has created more than 3,000 direct jobs and over 10,000 jobs in related services, contributing €1.4 billion in taxes, duties and social contributions, he added.
Purchasing a majority stake in Piraeus Port – already one of the fastest-growing harbors in Europe – will help China, Greece and other economies participating in the Belt and Road Initiative to enlarge their export volume and generate business opportunities in the services sector, said Zhou Zhicheng, Researcher at the Beijing-based China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP). Piraeus’ geographic location has the potential to become China’s and Asia’s gateway to Europe, as well as a major ship repair base and a cruise port in the Mediterranean. Piraeus Port currently has six major business segments, namely container terminals, logistics and warehousing, ship repair and building operations, cruise terminals, automobile terminals and ferry terminals. Its annual container throughput capacity has reached 7.2 million TEU, the China Daily reports.
