The contract for the General Company for Ports of Iraq (GCPI) is for work in the country's southern region of Basra and is valued at approximately US$110m (£83m).
Funding for the scheme comes from overseas development loans provided by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
The project will be executed through a partnership between MC and multiple international contractors, including Turkey-based energy infrastructure provider Calik Enerji, in which MC holds shares, and construction firm Gap Insaat, also Turkey-based. Both Turkish companies are part of the Calik Holding group. The two sister companies will play a major role in executing construction while MC will be responsible for overall project coordination and serve as the prime contractor, facilitating the import of steel structures and other necessary supplies from Japan.
The objective of this project is to modernize existing industrial port facilities around Basra by expanding the oil products berth at Khor Al-Zubair Port and by building a new service berth for working ships and service boats at Umm Qasr Port.
Demands for port infrastructure in Iraq is growing rapidly as the volumes of trade flowing in and out of the country grows. Rehabilitating port infrastructure is also seen as contributing to further stabilising the country's economy as post-war reconstruction advances.
Khor Al-Zubair and Umm Qasr are the only ports currently in operation in the Basra region, where a system of ports located in the 48km-wide tip of the country wedged in between Iran and Kuwait along the Persian Gulf gives Iraq its only outlet to the sea.
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