Abbasi to inaugurate first dirty terminal today

KARACHI: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will today inaugurate Pakistan’s first coal, clinker and cement handling terminal established at Port Qasim.

The project, set up by the sponsors of Marine Group, was complete this year. The company invested around $285 million into the terminal.

“The terminal is capable of handling 12 million tonnes of coal in bulk per annum, and with an average discharge rate of over 30,000 tonnes per day, the cargo handling time at PIBT (Pakistan International Bulk Terminal) is on par with the international levels of efficiency,” Sharique Siddiqui, chief executive officer at PIBT said in a statement. “We have currently over 20,000 shareholders and we tirelessly work to add value to our shareholders.”

Government stepped up efforts to increase negligible share of coal in energy mix to reduce dependence on other thermal sources. The terminal was timely set up to meet its growing demand in upcoming coal-powered plants to be established at the Port Qasim under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and in the Punjab. The plants are envisaged to run on imported coal.  

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

PIBTL is a public-listed company quoted on Pakistan Stock Exchange, sponsored by the Marine Group of Companies and partly financed by the International Finance Corporation, a member development financial institution of the World Bank Group.

A fully-operational PIBTL will improve port’s effectiveness and efficiencies and bring its throughputs at par with the international standards. PIBTL will be easing off the existing port congestions at Karachi Port Trust and PQA as well as mitigate the environmental and efficiency concerns.

The terminal’s modern infrastructure reduces handling time and decreases wastages of coal and cement during handling and their mixing during storage.