APM Terminals is looking to emerging markets to combat slow growth as southern Europe and the United States struggle with debt crises. APM Terminals Chief Executive Kim Fejfer told Reuters the company has seen little growth since the financial crisis hit in 2008 and its strategy had to change, so it is looking to grow in Asia, Africa and South America. “We come from a base where we are overweight in low-growth countries in Europe and in the United States,” Fejfer said in an interview. “My strategy is very clear, we need to twist the composition of our portfolio towards high-growth countries.” APM Terminals has interests in 61 ports and terminals in 33 countries around the world, with 16 new terminal developments or expansion projects underway. APM Terminals is one of the world’s four biggest port operators, along with Singapore’s PSA, Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa’s Hutchison Port Holdings and Dubai’s DP World . The first six months of the year had already shown signs of APM’S new strategy. The group has been selected as preferred bidder to build and operate a container terminal in Moin in Costa Rica, and won a new concession to operate and build a facility at the port of Callao in Peru. In addition, the company completed the construction of a container terminal in Cai Mep in Vietnam. “Between 2004 and 2008, we saw very strong growth,” Fejfer said. “We made a number of attractive acquisitions, but then the crisis hit.” But while the debt crisis in the United States and southern Europe put a damper on those and other Western economies, other parts of the world are enjoying growth, he said. “When you open the newspapers, you get the impression that the world economy is about to break down,” Fejfer said. “But when you travel around the world that is not impression you get.” While APM Terminal’s biggest customer is Maersk Line, the container shipping arm of the A.P. Moller-Maersk group, just under half of the volumes going through its ports are from other customers, Fejfer said. Historically, growth in container shipping volumes has been two to three times the speed of economic growth. “It is our strategy to grow faster than the market,” Fejfer said. “In terms of growth (in container shipping volumes), we believe in growth rates of 6 to 8 percent on average per year over the next 20 years.” The company generated revenue of $2.2 billion in the first half of this year, up 6 percent on the first half of 2010, and profit of $304 million, down 42 percent. (Reuters)