#Landbank - The State-owned commercial company that operates Dublin Port, reports The Irish Independent is poised to buy 40 hectares of motorway-connected land adjacent to the capital to support its future growth.

The Dublin Port Company which is enjoying a record growth phase and is set to pay a €10.9m dividend to the State this year, has just commenced a €230m redevelopment of the Alexandra Basin.

The redevelopment, which involves rebuilding more than 40pc of the port and increasing the basin's depth to 10 metres, will allow the port to host some of the world's largest cruise ships, such as the 18-deck MSC Splendida and the Disney Magic, whose horn blast plays an excerpt from Disney's famous flagship tune,

The redevelopment, which will allow cruise ship passengers to travel by Luas or foot to Dublin city centre, will be completed by 2020. 

However, Ireland's premier deep-water port, currently operating on a 260-hectare area of land, plans to double its container business from 20 Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEU) per annum to 40 TEUs and to handle 60 million tonnes a year by 2040.

The DPC handled some 32.8 million gross tonnes last year and has paid dividends of almost €90m to the State since 2007.
To ensure that its estate maximises its cargo-handling capacity, the DPC is contemplating the acquisition of a significant, 40-hectare (almost 99 acres) land bank adjacent to the motorway and accessible by the Dublin Port Tunnel.

Over 30pc of all goods arriving in Dublin port remain within the M50 area, while 60pc of all goods arriving at the port remain within 80km of the port.
It is anticipated that the motorway-connected site will, in future, accommodate non-core activities, such as trade car storage.

The company did not respond to queries about the planned acquisition. For more on the story, click here.