Yilport Announces Upgrades To Leixões

Yilport is to invest €43.4m in upgrading the South Container Terminal at the Port of Leixões in Portugal, with work scheduled for completion by March 2021. Work will involve more stacking area and the acquisition of further handling equipment with the aim of increasing capacity and alleviating congestion as well as improving productivity and cutting operational costs.

Capacity will increase from 450,000 teu to 660,000 teu, bringing the port as a whole to 800,000 teu.

Minister of Sea Ana Paula Vitorino is to announce additional investment at the end of February to allow Leixões to accommodate more and bigger ships.

Robert Yildirim, president of Yilport, says that he wants Leixões to compete with Spanish ports such as Barcelona and Valencia for container traffic.

Christian Blauert, chief executive of Yilport, revealed that Leixões already accounts for 60% of the traffic that the group handles in the Iberian Peninsula. However, the aim is to increase this further through a two-phase increase in capacity at the North Container Terminal to allow it to handle 1m teu. Initially, the quay will be extended up to 450 metres and draft deepened to 14 metres. A further 350 metres of quay would be added as part of a second phase.
Source: Port Strategy