The port group DP World is investing in its Black Sea location in Romania. Freight flows there are expected to increase by around 2 million tons per year.
Constanta, the largest container port on the Black Sea, is now home to two new facilities following an investment of €65m by terminal group DP World: a 5-hectare Project Cargo Terminal for heavy, large and complex cargo and a new RoRo terminal, which is expected to handle up to 80,000 vehicles per year at peak times. A further €50m will be invested in a new multi-transport platform in Constanta, which is scheduled to open in 2025. DP World’s third new facility is located in Aiud, in the industrial heart of Romania, where a new 8-hectare intermodal logistics centre linking rail and road is being built following an investment of €21m.
“The new facilities will improve connectivity between DP World’s existing sea, rail, barge and truck services across Romania and enhance the movement of goods between mainland Europe and the Black Sea, North Sea and Adriatic,” the company explains. DP World has invested over €250m in Romania since 2004, including grants from the European Union.
Over the past 20 years, Romania has developed rapidly and is now the second-largest economy in Eastern Europe after Poland. With its latest investments, DP World aims to encourage large companies to relocate or expand production facilities in the region. This so-called “nearshoring” and “reshoring” has become an increasing trend in Europe in recent years, partly due to the rise in geopolitical tensions.
One example of nearshoring and reshoring is automotive manufacturing, which has grown strongly in the region in recent years and is expected to continue to grow. The automotive industry already accounts for 13% of Romania’s GDP, with Mercedes-Benz, Dacia, a Renault subsidiary, and Ford producing in the country. Automotive companies are also increasingly investing in neighbouring Hungary and Poland, as well as nearby Turkey, so DP World believes that robust supply chains and logistics infrastructure such as the RoRo terminal will become increasingly important not only for Romania, but also for the surrounding region.
DP World‘s new facilities in Romania are the latest in a series of investments across Europe to expand its capacity. Other recent investments in Europe have included port expansion programs at six of the company’s eleven major terminals on the continent, including Antwerp (Belgium), Novi Sad (Serbia) and London Gateway (UK).
