Suez Canal Expansion Plans Lift Dredging Firm Boskalis

Shares in Dutch marine services provider Boskalis jumped on Wednesday, a day after the Suez Canal unveiled a project to expand the southern stretch of the waterway.

The Suez Canal Authority plans to expand and deepen its southern section, where a container ship became jammed and blocked traffic for six days in March, throwing international supply chains into disarray.

Back in 2014, Egypt signed contracts with six international firms to carry out dredging of the Suez Canal, including Boskalis.

"The market is thinking - and rightfully so - that these six companies will again be active in expanding the canal," said Kepler Cheuvreux analyst Andre Mulder. "So they should be the main beneficiaries of that."

Boskalis' shares rose nearly 6% at 1142 GMT.

In 2014, Egypt had also contracted Dutch peer Van Oord, Belgium's Jan de Nul Group and Ackermans & Van Haaren owned Deme Group, U.S.-based Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company, and the UAE's National Marine Dredging Company.

Boskalis's subsidiary SMIT Salvage also assisted in efforts to dislodge Ever Given, the giant container ship that was stuck in the canal.

Boskalis, which offers marine services and contracting for the oil and gas sector and offshore wind industry, on Wednesday guided for capital expenditures of around 350 million euros ($424.31 million) in 2021, as its first quarter met company expectations.

($1 = 0.8249 euros)

(Reuters)