DP World, the world's third largest port operator, is currently holding talks to purchase and develop ports in several countries in Central and South America despite setbacks it had faced over P&O's assets in the United States.
The company expects to sign two agreements by the end of the current year, according to Gulf News.
"There are at least six or eight locations that are asking us to come in," said Dave Sanborn, managing director of the Americas Division. "By the end of this year our footprint will be bigger," Sanborn added.
"There will be a couple of more locations by the end of this year. I cannot be more specific than this," he added.
The company said that it had interests in Argentina, Canada, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic, while it operates 52 container terminals in 30 countries.
Last week, it signed a deal with Peru to develop a 1.35-million TEU (20-foot equivalent unit) container terminal at Callao outside the capital Lima. An estimated $430 million (Dh1.58 billion) is expected to be invested by the company in the next two phases of the project.
"After we take care of that transaction, we will be looking again at future opportunities in the US," Sanborn added. DP World was forced to sell six terminals in the US that were part of the P&O operations it bought early this year as a result of political backlash from the US.
