While it may seem an unlikely destination, the Sri Lankan port is a growing automotive hub for transhipments from Asia to global markets. The right mix of incentives, capacity and shipping links have been catching OEMs attention.
Sri Lanka, the island nation off the southeast coast of southern India doesn’t manufacture vehicles and has a small vehicle market, its brisk trade in reconditioned vehicles notwithstanding. All in all, it seems an unlikely destination for a finished vehicle hub port. However, the new deep-water port of Hambantota on the island s south coast, located just off the main east-west shipping route across the Indian Ocean, is rapidly becoming a transhipment hub for global OEMs with plants in Asia.
Japanese, South Korean and Indian carmakers have begun transhipping increasing numbers of vehicles through Hambantota, whose official name is Magam Ruhunupura Mahinda Rajapaksa. Companies have been drawn by its convenient location, deep draft, availability of storage space, and attractive tariffs and incentives offered by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA).