Costa Rica: APM Terminals to Sign Concession Contract

APM Terminals​ could sign a concession contract next week for its US$992mln container terminal project in Costa Rica’s Limón province, Paul Gallie, managing director at APM Terminals Moín, told BNamericas.

The board of directors at national port authority Japdeva unanimously approved the concession contract on Wednesday (Aug 24) and national concessions council CNC was scheduled to do the same on Thursday.

“We expect to be notified of the contract signing shortly after that. It could be as early as next week,” Gallie said, adding that details have yet to be confirmed.

Costa Rica’s chamber for administrative legislation this week rejected a petition from Japdeva labor union Sinjatrap calling for the concession to be cancelled. The ruling is a sign of the legal certainty of investing in Costa Rica, APM said in a statement.

A lawsuit presented by one of Costa Rica’s two chambers of banana producers against APM and the Costa Rican government is still ongoing; however, APM is confident it will win the case.

 ”The general consensus here in Costa Rica is that it’s absolutely necessary to build the container terminal at Moín. Costa Rica is very behind in terms of its maritime infrastructure and it needs to have an operator like APM terminals with the financing capability and the experience to design, build, operate and maintain a world-class container terminal,” Gallie said.

The Moín project involves designing, building and operating a specialized container terminal that will handle 1.3mn TEUs/y in a first phase and involves a 40ha artificial island and 1.5km breakwater.

Once the contract is signed, the company will have 18 months to complete geophysical and environmental studies. The green light for construction should be given in May 2013 and APM plans to have a first berth operating by mid-2015.

By Catherine Setterfield (bnamericas)