MEED: How did Tartous International Container Terminal (TICT) perform in 2009 and what are the prospects for theyear ahead?

Romeo Salvador: Last year, TICT handled 62,299 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs), representing annual growth of more than 53 per cent. We expect similar rates of growth at TICT this year.

How will that be possible, given the global downturn in trade?

Syria is relatively isolated from global trends. Despite the crisis, Syria’s domestic market has continued to experience growth. Obviously, things would be even better if there had been no crisis – Syrian exports have slowed in 2009.  But there’s a huge imbalance between exports and imports in Syria. The country exports 20 containers filled with goods for every 100 full containers it imports. 

What strategies have you adopted to reflect changing trade patterns?

The global crisis has created a new opportunity to promote containerisation for conventional cargo. It has now become more cost-effective for customers who previously shipped cargo as breakbulk to use containers. We are handling containerised shipments of flour, wheat, resins, steel coils, textiles, marble blocks and even cars.

Have you gained any new business?

We have seen existing customers increase the frequency of their calls into Tartous. Most recently, Mediterranean Shipping Company upgraded its services into TICT from one or two calls a month to four.

Maersk already calls weekly, and we are close to signing up a brand new shipping customer.

What segment of the market does TICT target?

We handle average vessels of not more than 3,000 TEUs. Like Lattakia, TICT has a maximum draft of some 13 metres, although the Syrian government is looking to improve the draft as part of a plan to expand Tartous port. So the vessels calling at TICT are feeder vessels.

However, we handle small volumes of ship-to-ship transshipment. Containers bound for Egypt from Ukraine, for example, can transfer from feeder ship to feeder ship at Tartous, for onward dispatch to Port Said. We also handle transit cargo bound for Jordan and for Iraq.

What are the advantages of shipping via TICT?

We have worked hard to improve handling times and can offer faster turnaround times than any neighbouring port, including Beirut. We are on course to achieve a gross average of 30 container moves a crane an hour by the end of the year.

And for shippers, TICT is 100km closer than Lattakia to the key Damascus market. A round-trip saving of 200km has a significant impact on inland transport costs. All cargo travelling between Lattakia and cities such as Homs and Aleppo has to travel via Tartous, so it makes sense to ship through TICT.

But if CMA-CGM is building a 1 million TEU terminal at Lattakia, could this new capacity threaten Tartous?

Both terminals are targeting the same market base; Syria and Iraq. But the past few years have seen significant growth in Syrian container demand, thanks to the involvement of private operators. Before, the country lacked specialist cranes to handle container traffic, and it was unthinkable that the country could handle trans-shipment.

Now, a new Syria is emerging – a home-grown market of 22 million people. On top of that, there are good prospects for the Iraqi market. And we believe that if you are targeting the Iraqi market, the most efficient port you can choose is Tartous.

What are your future goals at TICT?

We are positive that we will achieve our goal to handle 500,000 TEUs by the end of our concession at TICT – we have already doubled the terminal’s through-put since taking over its operation.

ICTSI has the option to extend its concession at Tartous for an additional five years, and that has always been our plan. Meanwhile, we are continuing the $40m development of the terminal.