Written by Stephan Kueffner

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa has threatened to expel Hutchison Port Holdings Ltd., the world’s largest port operator, from the country due to delays in constructing a port in Manta.

The country will remove a tourism and industrial area planned under the concession from the company’s responsibility, Correa said today in his weekly radio-and-television address.

“I already pulled out the yellow card,” said Correa, using a soccer term for a serious warning. “If they don’t comply with the Manta Port concession, they’ll simply have to leave the country.”

Calls by Bloomberg News to Hutchison Port’s Manta office today went unanswered. The company is owned by Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa Ltd.

The $523 million port at Manta, the closest natural deep-sea port to Asia on South America’s Pacific Coast, was to begin operating in 2007.

Correa, a 45-year-old economist, has expelled one foreign company, Brazilian engineering firm Norberto Odebrecht SA, during his time in office.