APM terminal provides more barge lanes for non-oil exports

APM Terminals Apapa said it has extended its barge capacity to accommodate more volumes of non-oil exports.

In a statement on Sunday, the terminal operator stated that the initiative was taken during the second edition of its Exporters Forum on Thursday, in Lagos.

The Chief Commercial Officer of APMT Nigeria, Caroline Aubert-Adewuyi, while emphasising the value of feedback from exporters, highlighted the terminal’s improvements from the previous forum, including expanded barge slots, a new booking app, and enhanced rail services for smoother logistics.

“This forum is an opportunity to hear feedback from our customers to continue building products that will help the exporters grow their business and grow Nigeria exports in the future,” she said.

The Chief Financial Officer of APMT Nigeria, Courage Obadagbonyi, highlighted the importance of non-oil exports in driving foreign exchange, job creation, and reducing inflation, particularly in light of fluctuating global oil prices.

According to him, the terminal operator is committed to advancing the Federal Government’s economic diversification efforts by promoting non-oil exports.

“As a result of our efforts in this regard, we have recorded a 25 per cent increase of non-oil exports in throughput, handling 51,000 twenty-foot equivalent units in the first half of 2024 compared to 47,000 TEUs in the same period of 2023,” Obadagbonyi said.

He stressed the need for further investments in transport infrastructure, streamlined export procedures, and higher-quality products to increase Nigeria’s non-oil export potential.

The Head of Operations, APMT Apapa, Riyaz Melekolangath, said that an extended gate access and dedicated export lanes have been created to cut turnaround times for export containers.

Also, industry leaders who attended the event praised APM Terminals for its responsive export processes and focus on reducing carbon emissions through rail transport, positioning the terminal as a key player in Nigeria’s export growth.

The President of the Barge Operators Association of Nigeria, Olabunmi Olumekun, lauded the terminal operator for the initiative.

“What they are doing is to promote the heart of the business because export is the sine qua non to the growth of a country. We need exports to balance our trade. We don’t want vessels coming and going without taking any cargo,” Olumekun said.

He added that the terminal operator has started considering the concerns of barge operators.

“We need to promote and enhance our export capacity.  “APM Terminals have started taking our concerns into consideration, goods are now getting to the terminals on time and barging processes have become seamless,” Olumekun, said.

The Managing Director of Bueno Logistics Limited, Jetson Nwankwo, commended APMT for promoting the use of rail lines for the evacuation of cargo from the port.

“It has been proven that the carbon emission of trains is less than that of trucks. If you calculate it by using 10 dollars per pound of carbon, you will discover that APM Terminals can have an award of carbon credit that will be used to offset other expenses.

If APM Terminals get some carbon credits, they can lower their rates on demurrage, storage, or handling charges as the case may be,” Nwankwo said.

Since its concession in 2006, APM Terminals has transformed the Apapa container terminal into a modern and efficient facility, increasing capacity from 200,000 TEU per annum to 1.2 million TEUs.

The company has invested $438m (over N700bn) in port infrastructure development, information technology upgrades, and modern cargo handling equipment.