CMA CGM starts expansion of
$100 million container terminal

To be completed in 2028

CMA CGM and government officials laid the foundation stone for a $100 million expansion of the Beirut Container Terminal, launching a project set to more than double the facility’s handling capacity by 2028. The ceremony marks the largest single infrastructure investment at the Port of Beirut since the August 2020 explosion, and the third and largest expansion phase undertaken at the terminal since CMA Terminals took over its operation in 2022.

Capacity to more than double
The terminal’s ground area will grow from about 45 hectares to more than 75 hectares, nearly doubling stacking capacity and easing congestion on the yard. Annual container handling capacity will rise from roughly 1.2 million to 1.3 million TEUs to as much as 2.8 million to 3 million TEUs, according to CMA CGM. The centerpiece of the works is Quay 16, a 1.1-kilometer berth with more than 16.5 meters of depth. The terminal handled close to 950,000 containers in 2025 and is on track to pass one million this year, Port of Beirut Chairman and General Manager Marwan Naffi said, adding that most of the added capacity is expected to serve transshipment traffic rather than Lebanon’s own import and export market.

Faster Customs clearance
The plan includes a new Customs inspection zone fitted with two high-speed X-ray scanners intended to cut clearance times, along with an internal heavy-haul bridge and dedicated staging areas to smooth truck movement inside the port. Construction is scheduled to run through 2028 in phases, with full operational integration expected by early that year.

Phase II of the 2022 concession
The expansion builds on CMA Terminals’ ten-year concession to manage the container terminal, awarded in 2022, which included an initial $33 million commitment for equipment upgrades, a spare parts and maintenance facility, and digital infrastructure following the port blast. CMA CGM has since expanded its footprint in the country through its container operations at the Port of Tripoli and acquisitions in local distribution networks.

What they said
“Since taking over the Beirut Container Terminal concession four years ago, we have given the terminal the means not only to recover but to thrive and reclaim its rightful place,” CMA CGM Chairman and CEO Rodolphe Saadé said at the ceremony. “This investment will position the Beirut Container Terminal as a regional hub in an ever-evolving global trade landscape.” Naffi said the expansion could place Beirut among the ten largest container ports in the Mediterranean.

Also in attendance were Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, Fayez Rasamny, Minister of Public Works and Transport Minister, Tanya Saadé Zeenny, CMA CGM Executive Officer and CMA CGM Foundation President, and Joe Dakkak, General Manager at Merit Invest (CMA CGM Group).