Lebanon Real Estate Newsletter Vol. 3, Issue 6 - June, 2007

BEIRUT: Political deadlock and the occasional security incidents had little or even no impact on the overall performance of Beirut Port, which saw more than 9 percent growth in activity in the first five months of 2007. Beirut Port Authority head Hassan Qoraitem said activity in the last few months was better than expected.

"We have been doing quite well and if we continue at the same pace the port will be able to handle 1 million containers by the end of 2007," Qoraitem told The Daily Star in an interview, significantly more than the capacity of 700,000 for which it was designed.

The port did experience a lull in activity during last summer's war with Israel and the ensuing naval blockade, but Qoraitem said recent months had seen a huge upswing.

According to official figures, the number of vessels that docked at Beirut Port in the first five months reached 990, an increase of 9 percent compared to 2005. The vessels unloaded and shipped more than 1.16 millions tons of cargo in the first five months, an increase of 11 percent compared to the same period of 2005.

Beirut Port is a major source of revenues for the Treasury because of the tariffs and value added tax collected from this vital facility. The port handles 90 percent of Lebanon's maritime operations.

Tariffs and VAT collected from the port in the first five months reached $656.891 million, an increase of 15 percent compared to the same period of 2005. The VAT receipts from the port in the same period jumped to $291 million from $259 million. The number of imported cars unloaded from the port rose to 17,763 from 16,631 in the same period.

In the early 1990s, a phase of development and reconstruction took place at the port. The port was rehabilitated and it expanded to encompass four docks, two new quays and a new container terminal.

"Our consultants predicted that by 2012 Beirut Port will be able to handle 500,000 containers but it seems that we are going to exceed this target and reach even 1 million in 2007," Qoraitem said.

The container terminal became operational in February 2005. It is equipped with a total of 15 gantry cranes of various types.

Qoraitem said that Beirut Port has become one of the most vital ports in the Middle East and transshipment has increased tremendously.

"Some large ships from China unload their cargoes at Beirut Port and they we upload these items to other smaller vessels destined to Turkey, Egypt and other countries," the official explained.

He added that much of the cargo unloaded from the ships is sent to local market.

"Despite the situation in the country, imports remained reasonably high in the last few months," he said.

Qoraitem also talked proudly about Beirut Port's free zone.

"We have built 30,000 square meters of space in the free zone and already half of it is filled by companies and the other half has also been leased," he said. "There are lots of companies operating from the fee zone and this will surely increase jobs."

Qoraitem emphasized that the authorities have boosted security at the port and all containers are regularly inspected.

He added that a consulting firm is doing a study to improve the facility but declined to give more details.

Asked about government efforts to privatize the port's operations and management, Qoraitem said that most of the operations - such as the duty free and container handling - are already being executed by private firms.

"I can say that 80 percent of the port's operations are run by private companies," he said.

He added that the remaining 20 percent of work is "probably not financially rewarding for private companies."

 

By Osama Habib
Daily Star staff