Yilport Enters Terminal Market in North America

Mississippi’s Port of Gulfport has signed a Letter of Intent with Yilport Holding related to future port expansion and exclusive lease agreement.

With the Port of Gulfport nearing completion of the USD 570 million restoration project, Yilport Holding would commit to investing in additional facility and equipment upgrades.

“As we continue discussions with Yilport, the Port of Gulfport has a unique opportunity to evaluate a private-public partnership (PPP) that could lead to a significant investment in additional infrastructure and provide both parties with increased global coverage,” Jonathan Daniels, Port Executive Director and CEO, said.

“Our central location will allow Yilport to further expand international trade lanes from Gulfport and increase cargo throughput.”

This would be Yilport’s first terminal investment in North America. The company currently operates a ferroalloys production and refining facility in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Chairman of Yilport Holding, Robert Yuksel Yildirim, said that the company is “committed to Gulfport Port Authority to upgrade, improve terminal productivity and services by applying state-of-the-art port technologies at Gulfport in order to make the port the most competitive port in that region.”

“We see a great potential to feed volume particularly refrigerated goods to Gulfport from Yilport terminals in Ecuador and Peru and Latin America to reach out Midwest USA. There is further potential in leveraging the company’s trading subsidiary to handle containerized liquid and bulk products out of the US Gulf Coast region for small and medium-sized shippers.”

In November 2017, the Army Corps of Engineers released the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Port of Gulfport Expansion Project, which paves the way for a 282-acre dredge and fill program for further expansion of the port’s operations. The port is now evaluating options to complete the dredge and fill project.