2 January 2024 (Lloyd's List) - THE European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is to provide a $33.2m loan to Türkiye’s Borusan port in the Sea of Marmara to expand a terminal.

Turkish private conglomerate Borusan will use the proceeds to upgrade and expand its terminal in Gemlik near the city of Bursa, a hub for car making.

The port can handle 5m tonnes of general cargo a year, as well as 450,000 teu and 350,000 ro-ro each year. 

“The project responds to increased demand in the catchment area of Borusan port by supporting quality improvements and capacity expansion to improve general-cargo and project-cargo services,” a statement said.

EBRD recently announced a new programme to provide $76m funding to modernise Türkiye’s maritime sector.

Gemlik is also host to a larger Yilport terminal, which has an annual capacity of 2m teu and 650,000 ro-ro.

In addition, Gemlik is the eighth-largest Turkish port in terms of cargo handling with 13.2m tonnes from January-November 2023, compared with 15.4m tonnes in 2022, according to data from the Turkish transport ministry.