Port Qasim to get strategic storage facilities

Silos will have capacity to hold 150,000 tons of grain.

KARACHI: The Sindh Food Department and Fauji Akber Portia Marine Terminals will establish strategic storage facilities for wheat and grain with a combined capacity of 150,000 tons at the Port Qasim South Western Industrial Zone.

According to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on Monday, the project company will make an investment of up to $100 million, including a potential Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) component, possibly from Chinese investors, for establishment of the storage facilities. The MoU was signed by Food Department Secretary Aftab Ahmed Memon and Fauji Akber Portia Marine Terminals CEO Ahmed K Rana.

Speaking on the occasion, provincial Finance Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said that the Government of Sindh has already initiated establishment of modern grain storage facilities: an initiative that will cater to fluctuating grain demand. At present, Sindh alone faces a storage shortage of a minimum of four million metric tons. The facility will immediately enhance grain storage capacity through modern methods.

Rana said that his company has already established an exclusive dry cargo terminal at Port Qasim at a cost of $135 million, which has a maximum design capacity of 2.5 million tons and storage capacity of 125,000 tons of grain. The facility has been fully operational since December 2010.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 28^th, 2012.