AD Ports Group welcomes first international shipment at Mugharraq Port

RECENT CERTIFICATION ENABLES PORT TO RECEIVE INTERNATIONAL AND LOCAL VESSELS INCLUDING CONTAINER FEEDERS, BULK AND BREAK-BULK CARRIERS On 29 September 2022, AD Ports Group, a major facilitator of global trade, logistics, and industry, announced the arrival of the first international shipment at Mugharraq Port, one of the high-performing ports located within the Al Dhafra Region.

This is the first shipment since Mugharraq Port was recognized as an international port facility under the provision of the International Code for the Security of Ships and of Port Facilities (ISPS Code) by the UAE’s Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure.

International recognition was achieved after a series of major upgrades at the port, including the extension of the quay wall up to 480 metres with additional berths, deepening of the facility’s depth to eight metres, as well as the development of additional Ro-Ro ramps.

Mugharraq Port’s enhancements, coupled with its strategic proximity to Ruwais, Hail, Ghasha, and other key upstream oil and gas projects in the region, further solidify its position as an ISPS port well-equipped to meet the evolving need of international operations.

The port has long served as a leading maritime facility, offering a host of offshore, oil and gas, general cargo, logistics support, bulk, and break-bulk handling services. It connects nearby Delma Island via RoRo and ferry services. Ongoing extension work at the port, as well as the new international port certification, will support the wider long-term development plan for the Al Dhafra region.

Saif Al Mazrouei, Chief Executive Officer, Ports Cluster, AD Ports Group, said: “The arrival of our first international shipment is a significant milestone for the expansion of new international business opportunities and will enhance Abu Dhabi’s position as a global trade hub. The recognition of Mugharraq Port as an international port will provide significant support to development within the Al Dhafra region, and also enable the creation of new trade routes connecting the UAE to the world.”

Mubarak Al Mazrouei, Acting Managing Director, Mussafah Port and Al Dhafra Region, AD Ports Group, said, “It is our great pleasure to welcome the first international shipment at Mugharraq Port, a testament to our commitment to the ongoing development in the Al Dhafra region — catering to both commercial and recreational maritime activities. Our international certification will support the development of Mugharraq Port's logistical capabilities, especially in the global energy market, while supporting AD Ports Group's aspirations to position the port as a key player in global trade.”

ABOUT AD PORTS GROUP Established in 2006, AD Ports Group today serves as the region’s premier facilitator of logistics, industry, and trade, as well as a bridge linking Abu Dhabi to the world. Listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, AD Ports Group’s vertically integrated business approach has proven instrumental in driving the emirate’s economic development over the past decade.

Operating several clusters covering ports, economic cities & free zones, maritime, logistics, and digital, AD Ports Group’s portfolio comprises ten ports and terminals, and more than 550km2 of economic zones within KIZAD, the largest integrated trade, logistics, and industrial business grouping in the Middle East.

AD Ports Group’s Mugharraq Port was recently recognized as an international port.

The north-eastern Brazilian Port of Suape is to have a new private use minerals terminal, which will be operated by Planalto Piauí Participações e Empreendimentos S.A. Effectively, it forms part of the Bemisa Brasil Operação Mineral S.A. group, a mining company that the federal government has authorized to build and operate the 717km Sertão Railway between Curral Novo (Piauí) and the Port of Suape. Investment of $288 million will be required to build the terminal, which is forecast to handle 13.5 million tonnes of iron ore annually.

Work on the terminal is scheduled to commence in 2025 across a 51.8-hectare area in the Industrial Port Zone (ZIP), on Cocaia Island. The new rail link will offer an alternative to the Transnordestina Railway, which will also serve the port.

The main export that the terminal is expected to handle is iron ore. This will mostly come from deposits that the parent company is developing in Curral Novo municipality, which has reserves of 800 million tonnes. This represents the largest mineral reserve in the state and one of the largest in the country.

According to Roberto Gusmão, managing director of the Port of Suape, Suape is the main port in the Brazilian north-east and also a concentrator of cargo, which is currently distributed by road and cabotage. With the arrival of the rail network, the port will also be able to handle soybeans from the states of Tocantins, Bahia, Piauí and Maranhão; fruit from São Francisco; and gypsum from the Sertão do Araripe.

The terminal, which has a 30-year concession, will be able to receive and ship 50,000 tonnes of ore daily, as well as having static storage of 780,000 tonnes.

The Bemisa group is one of Brazil’s largest in the field of mining and exporting minerals. Based in Minas Gerais, it currently has a presence in seven Brazilian states, where it has nine on-going operations, covering the extraction of iron ore, gold, nickel, phosphate and limestone.

Barry Cross

The Management Consortium of the Argentinian Port of Quequén has revealed that it is on course to record a record throughput in grain exports for 2022. In August, volumes had already reached 5.5mt (million tonnes) and risen to 6mt by midSeptember.

Quequén is located at the heart of one of the country’s most important barely producing regions, whose export season begins in November and December. The port also handles substantial amounts of export corn.

Significantly, the problem of reduced levels of rainfall has not meant that wheat cannot be produced locally. Instead, a variety known as HB4 has become established, because it was developed with low rainfall areas in mind. Soybeans, though, struggle without good access to rain and in the local, windy climate.

All vessels calling at Quequén are invoiced in US dollars but the port effectively converts this to pesos. This allows a certain level of stability to be maintained in prices, irrespective of what is happening in the local economy. Barry Cross

Approval given to new Russian coal port

Environmental approval has been granted for the new Russian Port Elga coal terminal at cape Manorsky, in the Sea of Okhotsk. This has been revealed by the Elga Ugol Management Company LLC, which says that construction work will now go ahead

The facility, which will have an engineered capacity of 30 million tonnes per year, will receive consignments of coal from the mines at Elginsky via the Pacific Railway. It will be able to simultaneously load up to four 85,000dwt at a time, with the first scheduled calls to start in 2024.

The rail link to the port is the result of a September 2022 co-operation agreement signed between Gazprombank, the Khabarovsk regional government and Port Elga, the latter forming part of the A-Property Group. The line, which will not be open to public traffic will link mines at Elga with what is effectively a Port of Vanino operating terminal, and also with another port coal terminal near cape Manorsky, on the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk. Investment required is $2.3 billion.

Once operational, the new terminal will have a 5km conveyor link between the rail car dump and export facilities. In addition, there will be a major stockpile area, which will also be conveyor linked.

Significantly, the Elginsky coking coal deposit is one of the world’s largest. It is to be found in the South-Eastern part of Yakutia, 415km east of the town of Neryungri and 300km from the Baikal-Amur Railway.

As for the location of the Port of Elga itself, it is on the north-west side of Uda Bay.

According to public records, A-Property owns 80% of the Elga coal complex, and 20% controlled by EnergoGroup LLC run by Alexander Isaev, General Director of Elga-Sibantracite Management Company LLC (ELSI). Barry Cross