PSA International Acquires Penn Terminals

PSA International has completed the acquisition of Penn Terminals located on the Delaware River in the U.S. from Macquarie Infrastructure Partners, a fund managed by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets.

Penn is one of the best equipped, privately owned multipurpose marine terminals on the Eastern Coast of the U.S., says PSA. Penn’s terminal, warehousing and stevedoring services have been handling container, perishable, project, steel, pipes and forest product cargo since 1986. 

The acquisition is PSA's first in the U.S. “We are committed to partnering the state of Pennsylvania, customers, staff and the local community, as well as key stakeholders to augment Penn’s capabilities and connectivity in order to better serve the needs of shippers and receivers in the greater US Mid-Atlantic region and beyond,” said Tan Chong Meng, Group CEO, PSA International.

Macquarie Infrastructure Partners acquired the terminal in 2008. Penn has recently undergone a significant capacity upgrade with the addition of two new post-panamax ship-to-shore cranes in late 2018; bringing its total STS count to four. Penn is also a key component of the perishable cargo handling infrastructure of the Delaware River with approximately 2,850,000 cubic feet (80,400 cubic meters) of on-dock reefer warehouse space. It is estimated that close to 40 percent of the U.S. fruit imports come in via the Delaware River, which tallies to about four million tons per year.

The Delaware River’s key advantage is its existing cold chain ecosystem, fulfilling importers’ need for inspection, sorting, and quality checking of fresh fruit produce, prior to transport to their final destinations, says PSA. Within an hour’s drive from the Delaware River port complex, there are around 40 other refrigerated warehouses/logistics operators who deal in chilled and frozen cargoes. This existing cold chain infrastructure is not easily replicated, either in scope or level of efficiency. 

In North America, PSA also operates Ashcroft Terminal, British Columbia’s largest inland port facility, and Halterm Container Terminal, which is the only facility in Eastern Canada that can serve mega container vessels.