Horizon Terminals to spend $250m in next two years

“In terms of the acquisitions there are more opportunities now because the market is very difficult,” Sultan said.

“What we are finding is that due to liquidity issues some companies are unable to sustain their business or meet their commitments. Others are divesting certain businesses and these are coming available. We are studying the opportunities that being presented to us.”

“Right now we have a few but because we don’t have a formal view on them we can’t discuss them. We are not actually bidding on any at the moment so I can’t mention any by name, but we are in the process of observing some companies,” he added.

The Dubai-based terminals operator has recently opened facilities in both Singapore and South Korea, but Sultan said that he would like to develop the business in Europe.

“We have always had the strategy that we want a presence in the major trading hubs and one if the areas we don’t have a presence in is the Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp area,” Sultan said.

Sultan went on to say that Horizon Terminals had an investment plan that would increase its capacity by 20% over the next two years.

“We are trying to mix our growth strategy with a mixture of acquisitions and some grassroots projects we are looking at as well as some expansions of existing facilities,” he said.

“We have reached a capacity of 5 million cubic metres, but we are looking to grow that by another 1 million cubic metres over the next two years. That in itself will cost us about $250 million in terms of projected spend. That could be more if we find other opportunities,” he added

Sultan also said that the company plans to expand its Fujairah terminal by 500,000 cubic metres and a project execution plan has already been completed.