The project was carried out by a Consortium between ELSEWEDY ELECTRIC and DB Schenker in partnership with the General Authority for Land and Dry Ports
- The project was awarded "IJ Global" award as the first trigger project of EBRD’s Green Cities program in the Middle East and Africa
- The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has provided $40 million to finance the project
- October Dry Port is a benchmark integrated port facility operating according to the latest global digital systems in Egypt, with a capacity of 720,000 TEU per annum
Cairo, November 17,
The Egyptian Minister of Transport, Kamel Al-Wazir has announced the soft opening of “October Dry Port” as the first dry port in Egypt located in the new 6th of October City. The project is the first of its kind under public private partnership comprises of: Ministry of Transportation represented by the General Authority for Land and Dry Ports, and a consortium of ELSEWEDY ELECTRIC, and DB Schenker, represented by October Dry Port Company, in cooperation with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), aiming at providing a model for an integrated port facility operating according to the latest global digital systems in Egypt.
The soft opening of the October Dry Port coincides with the COP27, hosted in Sharm El-Sheikh, and comes as part of state plans to consolidate cooperation with the private sector, to launch smart, green, and sustainable cities.
October Dry Port is located in the industrial and logistical zone of the new 6th of October City, stretching over an area of 100 acres, located 25 kilometers west of the existing industrial zone on the Bahariya Oasis Road with access to regional ring road. It is also connected through Egyptian national railway network (ENR) with Egyptian seaports, to serve all Egyptian ports specially Alexandria port with its 2 sectors Alexandria and Dekheila and reduce the pressure on roads.
The dry port stretches over an area of 420,000 SQM, with a maximum capacity of 720 thousand TEU. This area is divided into storage areas for imports, exports, customs inspections, and buildings for all the authorities represented in the port. The port additionally provides specialized labs affiliated to the General Organization for Export and Import Control and the Food Safety Authority as well as a reefer container yard equipped with 132 reefer plugs, a dedicated area for out of gauge containers with over dimensions, and five railway tracks for loading and unloading of trains, with plans to increase the equipment for the second phase within 5 years.
In a move meant to contribute to the country’s digital transformation procedures for the movement of goods and to reduce the cost of container handling which results in increased product costs, the October Dry Port operation will also provide additional logistics services and is forecasted to reduce truck congestion on main roads and road accidents. The port will also reduce the carbon dioxide emissions resulting from the traffic of heavy trucks on roads, as the dry port will be connected with sea ports via railway, achieving a significant reduction in the carbon emissions.
The port is set to achieve several economic, development, and environmental targets, including the development of logistics areas adjacent to industrial complexes, creating direct and indirect job opportunities in the logistics sector in order to achieve the necessary efficiency, in addition to reducing congestion in sea ports, accelerating the work flow of supply chain for exports and imports.
October Dry Port project was awarded the IJ Global Transport Deal of the year for the MENA region as the best and first transport project in the Middle East and North Africa to be carried out under the Green Cities program affiliated with EBRD, in a partnership between the public and private sectors involving a $40 million fund provided by EBRD. The bank has also provided technical assistance to the New Urban Communities Authority and 6th of October City to address environmental challenges and increase gender inclusion in the project.
Eng. Ahmed El Sewedy, ELSEWEDY ELECTRIC President & CEO, stated that “The project comes within a number of steps taken to enhance the investment environment and drive economic development by facilitating and accelerating the movement of goods and businesses in the region. At ELSEWEDY ELECTRIC, we are constantly working to provide economic, development and environmental projects that serve the industrial sector and provide job opportunities directly and indirectly in new and innovative areas of work. ELSEWEDY ELECTRIC is also seeking to implement a number of similar projects in the coming period in Egypt and Africa.”
El Sewedy further elaborated that “October Dry Port serves as an extended gateway to all operating seaports located in the north and east of Egypt and sets a benchmark for dry ports in Egypt. In that sense, it empowers the Egyptian shipping and logistics sector by providing an integrated port facility operating with -latest technologies, reducing ports congestion and carbon emissions, by utilizing advanced network of railways.”
Meanwhile, Amr Mansour, Managing Director of the October Dry Port Company, said:
"The project is a breakthrough in multimodal transport moods It is an extension of the country’s seaports that aims to speed up the flow of goods by connection through railway network. It would also accelerate flow of export and import traffic to prevent the congestion of seaports with advanced technology that ensures fast and efficient customs procedures.”
He added, “The port provides storage areas for import, export containers, dedicated customs inspection areas, reefer containers area, LCL warehouse operated by electrical forklifts -to reduce carbon emission. In addition to that the Dry port decreases carbon emission resulting from road trucks, as trains will be used for transportation to and from the seaports.”
Through October Dry Port , we seek to enhance the efficiency of logistics services and provide innovative logistical solutions to industrial sectors in the local market that need this type of services with efficiency and global experience, by providing value-added services and improving specialized and appropriate logistics services for each industry, with the application of Digital transformation procedures for the movement of goods, reducing the cost of containers handling in ports resulting in increase in product costs, in addition to providing value added services to the logistics sector while ensuring that all safety measures are provided for goods and containers, where the dry port is the final destination for goods and carrying out all customs inspections and procedures and release and receiving operations from the dry port.” Mansour added
This project comes within the framework of the Egyptian state's strategy to establish a number of dry ports with the aim of accelerating the movement of transport and trade.
That comes in line with Minister of Transport plans to launch new logistical areas and dry ports and to ensure that goods are not accumulated in sea ports and to improve berth productivity in seaport, and to reduce vessels waiting time, which is reflected on products cost and creates a competitive advantage for the Egyptian product among international markets.