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Israel to Sell Haifa Port to India’s Adani Ports, Gadot Group for $1.2 Billion

A picture taken on April 6, 2017 shows a part of the port in the Israeli mediterranean coastal city of Haifa. - AFP
A picture taken on April 6, 2017 shows a part of the port in the Israeli mediterranean coastal city of Haifa. - AFP
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Israel to Sell Haifa Port to India’s Adani Ports, Gadot Group for $1.2 Billion

A picture taken on April 6, 2017 shows a part of the port in the Israeli mediterranean coastal city of Haifa. - AFP
A picture taken on April 6, 2017 shows a part of the port in the Israeli mediterranean coastal city of Haifa. - AFP

Israel said on Thursday it will sell Haifa Port, a major trade hub on its Mediterranean coast, to winning bidders Adani Ports of India and local chemicals and logistics group Gadot for 4.1 billion shekels ($1.18 billion).

Gadot and Adani made it to the end of a two-year tender process that Israel hopes will lower import prices and help shorten notoriously long wait times at Israeli harbors.

“The privatization of the port of Haifa will increase competition at the ports and lower the cost of living,” said Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Reuters reported.

Adani will have a majority 70 percent stake and Gadot will hold the remaining 30 percent, according to an industry official. Neither company was reachable for immediate comment.

Adani Ports, which has said it is the largest transport utility in India, is targeting expansion and seeks to become the premier global port group, the company’s chief executive Karan Adani, told an earnings call in May.

The new owners will compete with a private port that opened down the bay last year, which is operated by Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG) .

About 98 percent of all goods move in and out of Israel over sea and the government has been upgrading the sector to maintain economic growth.

Haifa Port said the new group will operate the port until 2054 and that the winning bid was “higher than expected.”

“After a complicated process, we were able to ensure Haifa Port’s future and its ability to compete in the coming years,” said Chairman Eshel Armoni.

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Inflation Rose to 2.3% in Europe. That Won't Stop the Central Bank from Cutting Interest Rates

A view shows the Bercy Economy and Finance Ministry as a metro operated by the Paris transport network RATP passes over the Pont de Bercy bridge in Paris, France, November 28, 2024. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq
A view shows the Bercy Economy and Finance Ministry as a metro operated by the Paris transport network RATP passes over the Pont de Bercy bridge in Paris, France, November 28, 2024. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq
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Inflation Rose to 2.3% in Europe. That Won't Stop the Central Bank from Cutting Interest Rates

A view shows the Bercy Economy and Finance Ministry as a metro operated by the Paris transport network RATP passes over the Pont de Bercy bridge in Paris, France, November 28, 2024. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq
A view shows the Bercy Economy and Finance Ministry as a metro operated by the Paris transport network RATP passes over the Pont de Bercy bridge in Paris, France, November 28, 2024. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq

Inflation in the 20 countries that use the euro currency rose in November — but that likely won’t stop the European Central Bank from cutting interest rates as the prospect of new US tariffs from the incoming Trump administration adds to the gloom over weak growth.
The European Union’s harmonized index of consumer prices stood up 2.3% in the year to November, up from 2.0% in October, the EU statistics agency Eurostat reported Friday.
Energy prices fell 1.9% from a year ago, but that was offset by price increases of 3.9% in the services sector, a broad category including haircuts, medical treatment, hotels and restaurants, and sports and entertainment, The Associated Press reported.
Inflation has come down a long way from the peak of 10.6% in October 2022 as the ECB quickly raised rates to cool off price rises. It then started cutting them in June as worries about growth came into sharper focus.
High central bank benchmark rates combat inflation by influencing borrowing costs throughout the economy. Higher rates make buying things on credit — whether a car, a house or a new factory — more expensive and thus reduce demand for goods and take pressure off prices. However, higher rates can also dampen growth.
Growth worries got new emphasis after surveys of purchasing managers compiled by S&P Global showed the eurozone economy was contracting in October. On top of that come concerns about how US trade policy under incoming President Donald Trump, including possible new tariffs, or import taxes on imported goods, might affect Europe’s export-dependent economy. Trump takes office Jan. 20.
The eurozone’s economic output is expected to grow 0.8% for all of this year and 1.3% next year, according to the European Commission’s most recent forecast.
All that has meant the discussion about the Dec. 12 ECB meeting has focused not on whether the Frankfurt-based bank’s rate council will cut rates, but by how much. Market discussion has included the possibility of a larger than usual half-point cut in the benchmark rate, currently 3.25%.
Inflation in Germany, the eurozone’s largest economy, held steady at 2.4%. That “will strengthen opposition against a 50 basis point cut,” said Carsten Brzeski, global chief of macro at ING bank, using financial jargon for a half-percentage-point cut.
The ECB sets interest rate policy for the European Union member countries that have joined the euro currency.