APM Terminals to Double Cranes at Mobile and expand facility
APM Terminals Mobile will add two new super-Post Panamax STS cranes and expand the container yard by 20 acres as part of a USD 40 million infrastructure investment to expand the terminal’s capacity in response to growing demand in the US Southeast by Alabama’s primary port. APM Terminals Mobile has a current annual throughput capacity of 350,000TEUs with two Post-Panamax cranes now in service.
“We are very pleased to proceed with increasing our capacity and productivity for the businesses and shipping lines who have made this port a new market leader. Mobile is a great place to be and we look forward to growing the terminal as the Gulf Coast’s gateway to the South Atlantic,” said APM Terminals’ Chief Operating Officer, Jeff De Best.
The addition of the two cranes and the expansion of the current facility by 20 acres will enable APM Terminals Mobile to accommodate both increased business from shipping lines serving Alabama’s growing industrial base, as well as the larger vessels calling US Gulf ports following the opening of the expanded Panama Canal locks. With a 13.7m depth, APM Terminals Mobile is already handling vessels of up to 8,40 TEU capacity. The widening of the Panama Canal locks will allow transit of vessels of up to 12,600TEU capacity.
The Alabama State Port Authority has begun construction of an Intermodal Container Transfer Facility (ICTF) for the Port of Mobile which will connect the APM Terminals facility with rail service to major markets in the US Southeast and Mid-West. Mobile is accessed by five Class 1 railroads including CN Railways, Norfolk Southern, CSX, Kansas City Southern and BNSF. The ICTF is scheduled to become operational in early 2016.
The European-based Airbus consortium is completing construction of a new USD 600 million Final Assembly Line for the A320 aircraft within four miles of the APM Terminals Mobile facility. Major shipments of materials and equipment for the aircraft will come through the Port of Mobile with the first major shipment scheduled to arrive at APM Terminals this month. Other local growing industries include automobile manufacturing, with over one and a half million cars produced annually within four hours of the port, as well as steel and exports of poultry and forest products.
Annual throughput at APM Terminals Mobile will grow to 475,000TEUs at the completion of this phase of expansion. The facility has future expansion capabilities to grow its annual throughput capacity to over 1.3 million TEU.