Pakistan’s first coal, cement terminal begins operation

With investment of $285m, it is capable of handling 12m tons of cargo per annum

KARACHI: Pakistan International Bulk Terminal (PIBT) - the country’s first coal and cement handling facility - started commercial operations at Port Qasim this week with the handling of a cargo vessel that brought 41,000 tons of coal, according to a statement issued on Wednesday.

“Motor vessel African Finfoot, which was 200 metres long and 32 metres wide with deadweight tonnage of 61,219 tons and maximum draft of 12.5 metres, transported 41,510 tons of coal cargo belonging to Awan Trading (Private) Limited at PIBT at Port Qasim this weekend,” said the statement.



The company has invested around $285 million in setting up the county’s first and only common user coal, cement and clinker-handling terminal at the seaport.

The terminal is capable of handling 12 million tons of cargo per annum and has a storage yard spread over 62 acres. PIBT is a public listed company being traded at the Pakistan Stock Exchange. Its stock price dropped 3.45%, or Rs1.05, to Rs29.36 due to profit-taking in a bearish market on Wednesday.

The terminal has been sponsored by the Marine Group of Companies and partly financed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-sector arm of the World Bank Group.

PIBT, under a 30-year build, operate and transfer (BOT) agreement with the Port Qasim Authority (PQA), has constructed its own jetty and is equipped with two coal ship unloading cranes and one cement/clinker loading crane.

A second vessel named MV Iris Oldendorff, carrying 39,550 tons of coal with deadweight tonnage of 63,453 tons, docked at the terminal on Tuesday where cargo handling had already commenced.

“A coal cargo ship with similar tonnage currently takes around seven days (at the other port) while the same cargo can be handled within two days at PIBT due to the modern and mechanised handling system,” the statement claimed.



“PIBT will not only be easing the port congestion at KPT (Karachi Port Trust) and PQA, but will also mitigate environmental and efficiency concerns,” it said.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 4^th, 2017.

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