Umm Qasr II

pending

  The Umm Qasr Port (UQP or the “Port”) is located approximately 70 km south of Basra and is considered Iraq’s main port handling most of the container and non-container cargo traffic. Aloreen Company for Investments (“Aloreen” or the “Company”) has been operating since 2016, under a 25-year concession agreement from the General Company for the Ports of Iraq (GCPI), with the commercial name of Basra Multipurpose Terminal (“BMT”), a multipurpose terminal (“Terminal 1” “T1”) at UQP. Since 2017, the Company has been developing a new terminal, mostly dedicated to containers (“Terminal 2”, “T2” or the “Project).  In 2019, IFC provided US$45 million on its own account and helped mobilize additional financing from other lenders (project #40784; see https://disclosures.ifc.org/project-detail/ESRS/40784/umm-qasr) to develop a new terminal mostly dedicated to containers.  Completed construction activities of (T2) include dredging works, erection of a quay wall up to 550 meters, ground improvements; development of buildings, facilities, warehouses, pavements, and utilities; and installation of electrical, and information & communication technology (ICT).  The new IFC investment (#50216) is a 10-year loan of up to US$120 million and encompasses the same footprint as the original IFC financing (#40784). This repeat investment comprises an A Loan of up to US$97.74 million and the mobilization of an MCPP loan. The proceeds will be used to finance new equipment for container handling and the expansion of the yard capacity at Terminal 2 (“Project”). The original design of the yard layout was modified to expand the container storage capacity (within the existing boundaries, reducing space for the storage of goods from general cargo and to replace the originally envisaged diesel cranes with electrical ones. The modifications are not anticipated to cause significant changes in the level of E&S risk of the existing project, while reducing operational Scope 1 GHG emissions. The civil works for this phase of the new IFC investment include adjustments to the electrical requirements for the new cranes (four ship-to-shore (STS) cranes) that require adjustments to previous electrical designs including electrical substations. Additional work includes civil work at the yard to optimize operations with the new cranes, enhancements to the maintenance workshops to accommodate the new equipment, adjustments at the berth to fit the size of the new cranes and modifications to the administrative buildings dedicated to T2 staff and administrative personnel. as of May 2025, the ongoing and planned main works include completion of the soil improvement of the yard (almost completed); buildings’ construction (at design stage where the construction is yet to start); electrical works (not yet started); installation of cranes and equipment (rails installed and crane delivery and installation scheduled to start in July 2025 later commissioning).