APM Terminals, the port arm of A.P. Moller-Maersk, and Vietnamese conglomerate Hateco signed a memorandum of understanding on 20 October to study a rail freight terminal network across northern Vietnam1. The ceremony was held in Copenhagen during the Vietnam-Denmark Business Forum, as part of President To Lam's state visit to Denmark1.
The proposed network centres on a rail freight terminal in Haiphong, with a cargo-handling centre and container storage yards1. It also covers three more railway freight locations in the north1. Hateco said the sites would connect industrial parks, manufacturing centres and logistics hubs to Vietnam's seaports, using digital systems for cargo reception, handling, storage and transshipment1.
A ceiling, not committed spending
Hateco put the total investment in the terminal system at up to US$3.5 billion, according to its statement3. Maersk described the number differently. It said combined investment by the two partners across their Vietnam projects would be US$2.5 billion to US$3.5 billion, rather than that amount going to the railway scheme alone2.
Container News reported the same range and said the figure "does not represent the investment value of the railway freight terminal project alone"1. The US$3.5 billion is best read as a ceiling for the partners' Vietnam plans, not as committed spending on rail.
The agreement is non-binding. Splash247 reported that no construction timetable or final investment decision has been announced2.
The partners already run the US$400 million Hateco Hai Phong International Container Terminal at Lach Huyen, which began operations in April 2025 and can take ships of up to 18,000 TEU3, 1. APM Terminals holds 49% and is the operating partner, and the terminal is part of the Gemini Cooperation network run by Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd2, 4. The two firms are also developing the US$1.7 billion Lien Chieu container port near Danang, designed for 5.7 million TEU a year across eight berths2.
What the documents leave out
Hateco's statement and the trade press reports do not name the three additional locations or their provinces3, 1. They give no equity split, no first-phase capacity and no gauge for the rail links.
Northern Vietnam already has a rail corridor towards the Chinese border. The Lao Cai-Hanoi-Haiphong line, a 363 km standard-gauge railway under construction, runs through Lao Cai, Phu Tho, Hanoi, Bac Ninh, Hung Yen and Haiphong5. The MoU announcement does not say whether the new terminals would connect to that line.
The outlets also describe the scope slightly differently. Bloomberg, in a report carried by gCaptain, called the three other sites "container facilities"3. Container News and Splash247 called them three additional railway freight locations1, 2.
What this means for buyers
Haiphong is the deep-water gateway for northern Vietnam's factory belt, with berths that handle direct services to Europe and the US4, 6. Inland trucking from industrial parks to the port is a cost that sits inside the export price, and it is the leg this network targets.
Hai Phong ranked 13th among the world's most efficient container ports in the 2025 Container Port Performance Index, published by the World Bank and S&P Global Market Intelligence6. Container throughput through Vietnam's seaports rose 12% to about 18 million TEU in the first half of 2026, and the government still points to fragmented transport links and relatively high logistics costs6. The MoU documents do not say whether other carriers would be able to use the terminals.
The cost backdrop
Fuel is the wild card. Brent crude was US$115.22 a barrel on 20 October, up 89.8% from a year earlier7. Trucking carries that cost most directly, and rail less so.