Bank of China contributes $340 million loan for the Bayport Terminal Expansion Project (Linked to Project ID#95396)

On March 21, 2014, a syndicate of five banks provided an RMB 6.7 billion loan to Shanghai International Port Group (Singapore) Pte. Ltd (SIPG) for the Bayport Terminal Concession Project. The loan carried a 1-year maturity and a 5% interest rate. Bank of China contributed RMB 3 billion. Bank of China made an initial loan disbursement of RMB 1.6 billion on March 21, 2014. Project ID#95383 captures the combined RMB 4.6 billion contribution. Bank of Shanghai contributed RMB 500 million, as captured by Project ID#95385. ICBC contributed RMB 600 million, as captured by Project ID#96387. Bank of Communications contributed RMB 500 million, as captured by Project ID#95386. HSBC contributed RMB 500 million. The purpose of the loan was to support SIPG’s bid for the concession of the Bayport terminal at Haifa Port. Under the terms of its 25-year concession agreement, SIPG was responsible for construction of the facilities at the back terminal, deployment and installation of the equipment and daily running and operation of the terminal. With a total 1,500 meters of quay length, a 78 hectare surface and a 17.3 meters draft, the new Bayport terminal was expected to handle the annual container throughput of 1.86 million TEU. In April 2015, SIPG won its bid to operate the Bayport terminal at Haifa Port (beginning in 2021). Then, in July 2020, SIPG Bayport Terminal Co., Ltd. — a special purpose vehicle and wholly-owned subsidiary of SIPG — secured two loans for the Bayport Terminal Expansion Project: an RMB 525 million loan from the Shanghai Branch of China Eximbank (Project ID#95396) and a $340 million loan from the Shanghai Branch of Bank of China (Project ID#95397). The project was completed on September 1, 2021, which marked the official start of operations at Haifa Port’s Bayport Terminal by SIPG Bayport Terminal Co., Ltd.

Additional details

1. The Chinese project title is 上港集团以色列海法新港码头项目 or 以色列海法新港码头项目. 2. This project is considered to be part of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Number of official sources

10

Number of total sources

20