Tel Aviv — The Israeli government’s tenders committee has approved an improved bid by Papo Maritime to operate Eilat port for the next 15 years, with an option to extend the franchise for another 10 years. Papo Maritime – which is owned by the U.S.-based Nakash family – will pay the government $30 million for the franchise after agreeing to raise its initial bid. The government has agreed to undertake repairs to the potash pier at the port, which are expected to cost $12 million. Papo Maritime has accepted an agreement between Israel Chemicals Ltd. (ICL) and the Eilat Port management to grant the company priority on 216 days a year for its shipments. The two sides agreed that payments by ICL to Eilat Port would be on a progressive rate: $1/mt for the first 2.5 million mt, $1.90 for handling of an additional 500,000 mt, and $2/mt for each additional amount above 3 million mt/y. The amounts are over and above a flat rate of $2.15/mt. In the past ICL opposed the privatization, fearing it would have an adverse impact on its operations out of Eilat. Eilat is Israel’s third largest port and has been handling an increasing share of the burgeoning trade with the Far East. ICL, which accounts for nearly 20 percent of the port’s revenues, ships some 2.5 million mt of potash and other chemicals via the Eilat port, whose importance has continued to grow in recent years.
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