On Thursday 14th July 2022, the finance ministry of Israel announced that India’s Adani Ports and Israel’s Chemical company Gadot have won a tender for the privatization of the port of Haifa. Haifa is one of the largest sea ports in Israel.
The consortium that bid for the port consists of the Israeli company Gadot (70%) and the Indian Adani group (30%). Gadot controls chemical terminals in Haifa and temporarily the Haifa silo (formerly Dagon), and holds a monopoly on the import of grain and chemicals to Israel. Gadot owns Keren Tene (60%) and Valio HBL (40%) as well.
The finance ministry of Israel promised that the deal will lead to lower costs for the consumers. The ministry further added that the group will buy the Mediterranean port for a sum of 4.1 billion New Israeli Shekels (NIS) ($1.18 billion). It is notable that $1 is equivalent to 3.4876 shekels.
Israel’s Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman said, “The privatization of the port of Haifa will increase competition at the ports and lower the cost of living.” According to a report by Reuters, Adani and Gadot were one of three groups to reach the final stage in the government tender.
The bid amount is NIS 1 billion more than the valuations of NIS 1.5 to 3 billion. In doing so, Adani Group and Gadot defeated the DAO groups, Israel Shipyards, and Shafir Engineering, which withdrew from the tender earlier today (Thursday) after submitting the lowest bid.
Haifa Port is the second largest port in Israel after the Port of Ashdod. Last year, about 47% of all container cargo in Israel passed through it. Apart from the cargo sector, the Port of Haifa is the main port in Israel in terms of passenger traffic and cruise ships. After the port of Haifa is privatized, the port of Ashdod will remain the only government port in Israel.
It is notable that in an effort to reduce import costs and cargo ship wait times, Israel has recently sold its state-owned ports and allowed the construction of new, private piers.