The Port of Rotterdam has secured a US$657 million loan, the final tranche of a $2.9 billion financing package to build an 8.5 million TEU container hub, the biggest terminal project in Europe.
The port authority said the loans would cover its borrowing requirements for the coming years, including the construction of Maasvlakte 2.
Work on the nearly 5,000-acre container and industrial project will start in the fall, with the first terminal due to start operations in 2013. Total cost is estimated at $4.4 billion. The port authority, private companies and the Dutch government will invest about $17.5 billion in the port in the coming five years.
A consortium of DP World and four ocean carriers will start operations at a four million-TEU terminal in 2013. APM Terminals will operate a 4.5 million-TEU facility expected to open in 2014.
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