Matosinhos, Portugal, March 31, 2026 (Lusa) - Yilport, the concessionaire for the Leixoes container terminal, in northern Portugal, has described the proposal for the new North Terminal, which received conditional approval from the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) last week, as "unsustainable in the medium and long term”.
According to the Public Consultation Report for the new terminal, Yilport concluded that the operational model is unsustainable in the medium and long term, saying that the terminal would likely become obsolete before the investment could be recovered, as it fails to align with global trends in automation, digitisation, and fleet evolution.
The report reveals that Yilport identified "structural design errors" in the project, specifically regarding the proposed triangular layout, deemed inefficient and contrary to recommended practices in greenfield terminals, typically rectangular, allowing better functionality and future expansion.
Yilport reportedly cited several international examples to demonstrate that new terminals worldwide were moving towards linear layouts, reinforcing their technical critique of the current proposal, further pointed out that the project was designed for vessels up to 300 metres long with a capacity of approximately 5,000 TEU [standard unit of measurement for containers], when global trends show a rapid increase in ship sizes, with vessels exceeding 20,000 TEU and regular orders for ships above 10,000 and 12,500 TEU.
According to the report, Yilport describes this project as outdated, saying that it would compromise the future competitiveness of the port of Leixões, preventing it from attracting major transatlantic services vital to the region's economy, further highlighting concerns regarding maritime manoeuvrability and land access, as a structural, long-term investment could limit the size of ships the terminal could receive.
Furthermore, there were serious inadequacies in rail and road infrastructure, specifically the lack of a functional rail link for 750-metre trains, the report highlights, adding that without rail support, the terminal would depend entirely on lorries, doubling or tripling heavy traffic, causing unbearable congestion in the surrounding urban areas.
Yilport said that more viable options exist, such as optimising current facilities, proceeding with the New South Terminal (which has a favourable Environmental Impact Statement), or strategically developing a new terminal to the West, outside the existing port boundaries.
The report concluded by characterising the North Terminal project as the worst option in a cost-benefit analysis, as it combines high investment and complexity with significant impacts, without delivering proportional gains in capacity or future sustainability, saying that the existing alternatives offered a better balance between costs, risks, capacity, impact and strategic suitability for the future of maritime transport and logistics chains.
JE/MYAL // AYLS
Lusa
