Alexandria’s transit cargo is growing, and three partners want to process some of it at Dekheila

Alexandria’s ports are handling more transit cargo, and three partners want to turn some of it into Egyptian exports. The Alexandria Port Authority (APA), Hassan Allam Utilities (HAU), and Al Tarek Capital Real Estate Asset Management signed an MoU to study setting up, developing, and operating a storage, re-export, and light-manufacturing hub on a 273k sqm plot in Dekheila Port’s western hinterland, according to separate statements (here and here, pdf). The land is set to join the port’s customs zone.

HAU and Al Tarek still need a final agreement and regulatory approvals before they can build and run the hub, HAU says. Transport Minister Kamel El Wazir directed the parties to hold meetings to sign a terms-and-conditions agreement and start work. Neither statement disclosed an investment figure, a construction date, land rights, or how the private partners will split financing and operating responsibilities. Who carries the development risk, and how the hub earns revenue, depends on those terms.

Bringing the plot under the port’s customs jurisdiction is the first of two steps. HAU says the plot is “intended to be incorporated into the port’s customs zone” and that the re-export and transit work needs approvals for freezone status or a similar framework. Read together, that points to two steps: bring the hinterland under the port’s customs jurisdiction, then secure a duty-suspension regime for the activities. The statement doesn’t spell that out, and it leaves open whether the whole plot or part of it gets the status.

Downstream of the transit surge

Container traffic through Alexandria and Dekheila rose 14% to 2.59 mn TEUs in FY 2025/26, and transit containers jumped 74% to 553.4k TEUs. At Dekheila, transit containers handled by the Hutchison terminal rose to 88.9k TEUs from 24.4k a year earlier. A larger transit flow means more potential customers for the hub, though it isn’t clear from the transit numbers how much cargo will need storage, processing, or re-export instead of direct transshipment.

Red Sea disruptions pushed shippers toward Mediterranean gateways, where extra storage could help absorb shifting flows. The jump in transit volumes came as shippers relied more on Alexandria’s ports amid disruptions at Red Sea ports. The partners haven’t disclosed the hub’s storage capacity, cargo throughput, or operating arrangements.

One link in a chain

Freezones already operate at Dekheila, including one approved for Berth 100 in July 2024. The Berth 100 terminal is designed to handle 1.5 mn TEUs a year under build-operate-transfer arrangements with an alliance of Hutchison, Cosco, CMA CGM, and MSC, and the cabinet approved an 840k sqm private freezone for the El Dekheila Container Terminal Company there. Venus Freezone also runs a grain storage facility of more than 103k sqm at the port.

APA’s own logistics zone is about four times the MoU plot: APA is developing a 273-feddan zone for value-added industries, with reclamation 62.7% complete through its first 153-feddan phase. That is about 1.15 mn sqm by our math, and neither APA nor HAU says whether the 273k sqm sits inside it.

IN CONTEXT- HAU brings a logistics track record. HAU Logistics, its platform with AP Moller Capital, launched in 2023 targeting c. USD 200 mn of investment in logistics, air freight, and warehousing. It runs the 270k sqm YANMU East Logistics Park in East Cairo in a joint venture with Agility.

THE BOTTOM LINE- The hub’s viability depends on securing the right customs regime and attracting cargo that needs processing, and until the terms-and-conditions agreement, the customs and freezone approvals, and the land terms are in place, neither is settled.