The company is investing Dh550 million ($150 million)
in building the new unit along with Adroit Overseas Canada and Al Amir
Foods, DP World said on Monday 19 Feb.That’s nearly three times the Dh200 million that
the company had initially revealed at the launch of the project in
July 2022.
The first phase of the new project,
which will be used for storing and processing various agricultural products,
including pulses, grains, corn, and soybeans, is scheduled for completion in
early 2025.
It will have a total storage capacity of
200,000 metric tonnes, developed over two phases, along with processing and
packaging units.
The new project is also set to stimulate
more than Dh1.2 billion in new international trade as the UAE continues to
forge new trade ties with different countries across the globe, DP World said.
“This investment will add world-class
infrastructure to our flagship port, support national efforts to strengthen
food security and significantly expand our flourishing agricultural trade
ecosystem in Dubai,” Sultan
bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and Chief Executive of DP World,
said.
The UAE government has been prioritising
food security and innovation in agriculture after the coronavirus pandemic
disrupted the global food supply chain. The
National Food Security Strategy 2051 aims to put the UAE at the top of the
Global Food Security Index by 2051.
The Arab world’s second-largest
economyaims to boost the contribution of food and agriculture to its economy by
$10 billion and create 20,000 jobs in the next five years amid measures to
boost food security in the country, Minister
of Economy Abdulla bin Touq said in September.
He also unveiled seven key pillars to
transform the food and agriculture sector with an emphasis on domestic
innovation, a UAE-first culture and food supply chain, and giving farmers
the necessary support and resources to make the country a global leader in
agricultural technology and sustainability.
Spanning a quayside area of nearly 100,000 square
metres, the new agri-terminals will be Dubai’s largest multi-tenant facility
for integrated agricultural processing and silo storage, DP World said.
Jebel Ali Port currently handles about
73 per cent of the UAE’s food and beverage trade by value.“The terminal is
designed to seamlessly transfer commodities directly from ship to facility
through an advanced conveyor belt system,” the company said. It is also expected to enhance bulk
handling by about 750,000 metric tonnes annually, making a “substantial impact”
on Dubai’s trade dynamics and food security efforts, it added.