Gävle Doubling Its Container Capacity

Sweden’s Port of Gävle is set to double its container capacity by the end of 2019 with an ongoing expansion project that will enable the port to welcome more and larger containerships.

A joint venture of the Port of Gävle and Yilport Gävle worth SEK* 700 million is building a second dock with cranes and depth to accommodate larger boxships. The expanded container port will be able to handle four ships simultaneously.

The expansion, which increases the capacity to 600,000 TEU annually, is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2019.

As explained, the move comes in an effort to achieve continued growth as the Port of Gävle has reported large volume increases in its container traffic almost annually since its inception ten years ago.

“Within a 250 kilometer radius of Gävle 17 million tonnes of steel, paper, and timber are produced every year. A lot of it is already being exported by sea, containerized and through us, and that volume will definitely grow,” Eryn Dinyovszky, General Manager of Yilport Nordic, noted.

“Apart from the fact that the port will attract more export business, the Port of Gävle and Yilport also expect increased imports,” the duo said in a statement.

“With stricter requirements for more environmentally sustainable transportation solutions, we are in an optimal location. The Port of Gävle is just two hours from Stockholm… Our extensive new investments generates a completely new environment for what I like to call The Northern Port of Stockholm,” Fredrik Svanbom, CEO of Port of Gävle, commented.

Earlier this year, Gävle Municipality approved a SEK 200 million investment to expand Gävle Container Terminal (GCT). COB Inger Källgren Sawela stressed back in June 2017 that the municipality aims to create growth and jobs, while Yilport will invest in cranes under this project.

Yilport Gävle has operated the port since 2014. In 2016, Yilport acquired 100% of shares in GCT and Baltic Sea Gateway (BSG), in Gävle Port. Under the 30+10 year concession agreement with Gävle Municipality which awarded Yilport Holding the rights to operate container, bulk, general cargo, rail and CFS services in Port of Gävle terminals.

* SEK 1 equals USD 0.12