CMA CGM to invest EUR 230 mn in Syria’s Latakia Port

Syria taps CMA CGM for port operations: Syria’s Land and Sea Ports Authority and the French logistics giant CMA CGM finalized a 30-year agreement for the operation of the Latakia Port, a company official told Reuters on Thursday. The new contract is a renegotiated form of a previous 30-year agreement CMA CGM signed a few months before Bashar Al Assad's regime was toppled.

The details: The agreement will see CMA CGM build a new 1.5-km-long, 17-meter-deep berth and invest about EUR 230 mn in the Mediterranean port, the official said. CMA CGM will invest EUR 30 mn during the first year, while the rest will be rolled out over the next four years.

We’ve been expecting this: Syria inked an agreement with CMA CGM in February to allow them to operate Latakia Port’s container terminal until a renegotiated agreement is finalized. CMA CGM first began managing Latakia’s container terminal in 2009.

Syria’s ramping up reconstruction efforts: Iraq made headway on the resumption of the Kirkuk-Baniyas pipeline that extends through Syria to Mediterranean ports last month, which could enable Iraq to avoid full dependence on its Turkey-bound Ceyhan pipeline to reach Europe. As Syria works on reviving the pipeline could help secure much-needed energy imports to support reconstruction efforts as the country is set to face a 41% US tariff, with eyes on possible investments in refinery projects to process Iraqi oil.