MSC Invests with Adani in Second Indian Terminal to Grow Regional Business

The Ennore Terminal is located on India's east coast near Chennai (Adani)

PUBLISHED DEC 15, 2023 4:26 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company through its Terminal Investment Ltd. (TIL) subsidiary is acquiring a stake in a growing terminal operation on the east coast of India. The investment complements a decade-long investment in a port in northwest India and the shipping company’s strategy to expand operations on the subcontinent.

India’s private port operator Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone reports it has entered into an agreement to sell a 49 percent stake in the Adani Ennore Container Terminal to the MSC subsidiary for approximately $30 million. The deal valued the operation located approximately 20 miles to the north of Chennai at approximately $145 million. Adani will continue to own 51 percent of the terminal after the closing which is expected in the first quarter of 2024.

Ennore is a modern terminal facility located on the Bay of Bengal with the capacity to handle approximately 800,000 TEU annually. In the first eight months of FY 2024, the port has handled 450,000 TEU, an increase from the total of 550,000 for the entire last fiscal year. Adani has a concession for the terminal until 2044.

Adani says in partnership with MSC they plan to expand the operations at the port. It is well suited with congestion-free access to major highways and roads and an intermodal connection to the rail system. Adani’s plans call for increasing the terminal which has an approximately 1,300-foot berth to have a capacity to handle 1.4 million TEU annually.

MSC invested in 2013 with Adani in the CT3 Container Terminal at Mundra Port, the largest private commercial port in India. Located in the northwest of India, MSC has used the port to grow operations in the region. MSC has developed the use of the port for transshipments helping to grow volume at the Mundra terminal. Last month, the terminal reportedly surpassed 300,000 TEU, its biggest-ever monthly volume. 

TIL was started in 2000 by the Aponte family to secure container terminal capacity in the major ports serviced by MSC, the majority owner and main client of the company. The company now has operations at more than 70 terminals in 31 countries. It operates terminals ranging from Long Beach, California to Antwerp and Le Harve, as well as Saudi Arabia and Singapore. MSC is also currently in process on a deal to invest in the operator of the terminals in Hamburg, Germany taking a 49 percent stake and managing the company with the City of Hamburg.

MSC is moving aggressively to expand all parts of operations including its shoreside businesses. 
The company believes that securing increasingly restricted terminal capacity is critical to the development of its core container shipping business.