Adani-JKH West Terminal outpaces state-run ECT in 2025 race

A tale of contrasting velocities has emerged in the Port of Colombo, with the private sector-led Colombo West International Terminal (CWIT) rapidly outpacing the state-managed East Container Terminal (ECT) in 2025, prompting renewed calls from industry heavyweights to open the latter for private investment.

- By NISHEL FERNANDO

Colombo West International Terminal

While the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) celebrated the commissioning of ECT’s third berth last week, aiming to ramp up operations, the data shows the Adani-John Keells Holdings (JKH) consortium has already seized a dominant operational lead in its debut year.

According to the official data and statements, CWIT, which only commenced operations in April 2025, handled a massive 717,226 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) by year-end. In contrast, the SLPA-managed ECT, operating with what the officials termed “incomplete infrastructure”, processed “in excess of 500,000 TEUs” during the same period.

The disparity is starker in capacity utilisation.

Speaking at a recent investment symposium, JKH Deputy Chairman Gihan Cooray revealed that CWIT has already reached 90 percent utilisation of its Phase 1 capacity of 1.6 million TEUs.

“At the run rate that it is going at now, we are pretty much at 90 percent utilisation of that capacity already,” Cooray said.