CEO Keith Svendsen: Looking ahead to 2025

Lifting standards in the industry. That was the main focus for 2024 according to CEO Keith Svendsen, and it’s a focus that has paid off as APM Terminals continued to lift the standard of efficiency — reducing port stay for vessels calling its terminals — throughout the year.

This key metric does more than ease the journey of customer vessels calling at our terminals — it contributes significantly to the reduction of carbon emissions in the supply chain. Decarbonisation is an area in which APM Terminals continues to lead, as it spearheads a campaign to electrify container handling equipment throughout the industry. APM Terminals this past year made major strides in collaborating with peers, suppliers and even competitor companies as part of the Zero Emissions Port Alliance (ZEPA), now 12 members strong.

Svendsen said the achievements harnessed by APM Terminals this year in decarbonisation, efficiency and growth are down to “a unique blend of operational excellence, terminal modernisation and technology uptake”. All of these equate to better connections, improved planning and reduced emissions.

World-leading terminals

The company’s efficiency measures have also been validated by independent analysis, with the Container Port Performance Index — published by the World Bank — showing the company operating in six of the world's 10 most efficient container ports. Said Svendsen: “the achievements we have gained are not only down to our own efforts; recognition also belongs to the collaboration with customers and partners to become even more efficient, reliable and responsible.”

Examples of collaboration include the built-in flexibility and agility that help customers be more resilient and sustainable. By capitalising on the use of low emissions-generating rail networks for hinterland connections in Gothenburg (Sweden), Mobile (Alabama, US) and Pipavav (India), we’ve helped keep roads clear and supply chains running smoothly. In Port of Salalah (Oman), a multi-modal service was launched to provide customers with a solution to re-route around the Cape of Good Hope — demonstrating proactivity and flexibility in meeting changing customer needs.

Collaborative solutions

Looking ahead to 2025, Svendsen predicts that customers will continue to rework supply chains and that proactivity will continue to be a primary focus for the company. “Co-creating solutions will remain key,” he said. “With the largest orderbook ever across carriers in terms of TEU, many of our customers are looking to modernise their fleets to remain competitive. APM Terminals has spent recent years upgrading our own portfolio to ensure that we can be agile in this shifting landscape — ready to serve all customers and vessels.”

Preparations are evident — and already in place — through infrastructure upgrades in Mumbai (India), Onne (Nigeria), Pier 400 (Los Angeles, US) and in the company’s flagship terminal in the Netherlands, Maasvlakte II, where APM Terminals will see the full implementation of doubled capacity by 2027. 

This all took place as five terminals increased productivity by nearly 100% since 2016 in readiness for the Gemini Cooperation — a string of hubs from Asia to Europe. Learnings from network roll out at these terminals will be shared throughout the APM Terminals network to benefit all customers in 2025 and beyond. 

Terminal company of choice

Speaking on the ‘beyond 2025’ topic, Svendsen points to the continued trust invested in APM Terminals by governments, port authorities and communities. “As a partner of choice, we have extended our concession for the Aqaba Container Terminal in Jordan until 2046. In Brazil, we secured a 20-year extension for the Port of Santos — which boosts capacity by 40% and creates significant job opportunities within the region. These contract renewals tell us that we are on the right path — not only in terms of our own business ambitions, but for sustainable economic growth. Growth which benefits people, entire communities, entire countries,” he says. 

A vision of the future

APM Terminals’ newest locations in Suape (Brazil) and Rijeka (Croatia) and its joint project in Haiphong, Vietnam are, according to Svendsen, a sign of things to come, as was the celebration in December in Barcelona of the first arrival of battery-powered electric straddle carriers — part of the terminal’s $60 mln global electrification pilot.

“From the ‘get go’, our new terminals present a vision of the future for the industry: port container handling that is free of pollution, semi-automated and designed to create rewarding, upskilled jobs and community prosperity. They are not the exception — they are a barometer of what will become the norm across our entire portfolio.”

“We are moving the needle for the environment and the communities in which we operate. Whether that be through our scholarship programs in Nigeria, our support of fishing initiatives in India or our investment in local talent in Bahrain: we actively give back.

“We will continue to lift standards, to spark innovation, to decarbonise and to unlock new opportunities for trade, for progress and for people,” he said.

Keith
CEO