The opening of the new container terminal on Turkey’s Aegean coast will become the largest of its kind serving the country's capital Istanbul and southern regions. 

APM Terminals said the development would 'contribute significantly' to Turkey's export growth.

"Turkey’s very ambitious plans to become of the world’s ten largest economies will rely in part upon new and greater access to the global logistics chain, and the larger vessels serving world trade, and we are proud that APM Terminals Izmir will play a role in that process," says APM Terminals managing director Mogens Wolf Larsen.

Final deliveries of ship-to-shore (STS) cranes and gantry cranes are scheduled for December, complementing the container equipment already in place.

The deep-water APM Terminals Izmir facility is expected to begin commercial operations in early 2016, with an annual capacity of 1.3 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units).

As Europe’s seventh largest economy, the Turkish government has grand plans to propel the country’s export capacity to US$500 billion annually by 2023.

The APM Terminal Izmir facility will operate under a 28-year concession agreement with Turkish petrochemical conglomerate Petkim and will have 700 meters of quay and a 16 meter depth during its first phase of development.

The new port falls under the Petkim Petrochemical Complex development geared towards export production and represents an investment of US$400 million.

In addition, there is potential to expand annual throughput capacity to four million TEUs annually.

Once crane testing and container handling equipment testing is finished, APM Terminals Izmir expects to receive its first vessel call next March.

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