Philippine firm ICTSI to manage Madagascan port

Philippine port operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. took over the management of Madagascar's international port on Monday, a government official said.
Manila-based ICTSI won the contract to manage the eastern port of Toamasina in May, beating a subsidiary of conglomerate Hutchinson Whampoa Ltd. , a unit of Danish shipping company AP Moeller-Maersk and port operator Malta Freeport Terminals Ltd.

Bringing in a private operator for the port's container terminal is a key part of Madagascar's effort to become a bigger player in the shipping business, making use of its strategic location between Asia and Africa.

The Indian Ocean island conducts 80 percent of its foreign trade by sea.

"International Terminal Container Service has carried off the tender for the management of the container centre of the port", port director Pierrot Botozaza told journalists late on Monday. "From Monday, (it is) totally in charge."

Botozaza said the agreement will last 20 years and is renewable every 5 years after that. Around 350 jobs are expected to be created as a result of an expanded port, he added.

Madagascar is the world's biggest vanilla producer and Africa's third-largest exporter of textiles to the United States, after Kenya and Lesotho. It is also rich in minerals.

Canadian mining company Dynatec is gearing up to open a $2.25 billion nickel mine in the east and plans to build a treatment plant for the nickel near Toamasina.

The company estimates it will need to import 1.6 million tonnes of limestone each year, plus significant quantities of coal and sulphur, through Toamasina to operate the plant.

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