The current loan, the third large loan the Port Authority has taken out within a month, brings the total borrowings to € 2 billion ($2.9 billion). Loans had previously been clinched with the European Investment Bank (€ 900 million/$1,305 million) and the Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten (€ 450 million/$655 million).
BNG, ING, Fortis and Rabo are also each providing € 50 million ($72 million) in working capital. “These loans will easily cover our borrowing requirement for the coming years, including the construction of Maasvlakte 2,” says financial director Thessa Menssen.
Work will start on Maasvlakte 2 this autumn. The first terminals in the new 2,000-hectare (4,942 acre) port and industrial complex will become operational in 2013. Total construction costs for Maasvlakte 2 are estimated at € 3 billion ($4.3billion). Filling in part of the Hartel Canal and building the Euromax container terminal and the two LNG terminals on the Maasvlakte are other structural projects in which the Port Authority is engaged.
In total, the Port Authority, the government and trade and industry will be investing around € 12 billion ($17.4 billion) in the port of Rotterdam in the coming five years.
