Ports review 2012

The following includes updated news on some of the projects mentioned in the May 2011 issue of WORLD CEMENT, plus a review of new and recent projects.

Bangladesh

Earlier this year, Cemex inaugurated a US$1.8 million flyash unloading system at the company’s newly constructed river port in Narayangaj city, located 40 minutes from Dhaka. The new flyash unloading system will minimise dust emissions during unloading and will prove to be an improvement on the previous manual handling process.

Bahrain

In February 2012, the Bahrain News Agency reported that The General Organization for Seaports is redeveloping the previous ‘Mina Salman’ terminal into an import-export terminal for construction materials to meet the growing demand for building materials in Bahrain. The Organization’s Director-General, Hassan Ali Al-Majid, said that the terminal is now ready for handling and storing construction materials.

Haiti

In August 2011, Trinidad Cement Ltd (TCL) entered into a long-term agreement with the Win Group of Haiti for the establishment and operation of a cement terminal on approximately 5 acres of land at Terminal Vareux in Port-au-Prince. Phase 1 will see the establishment of a cement warehouse facility/operation that will supply bagged cement that originates from the Caribbean Cement Company Ltd’s (CCCL) operations in Jamaica, brought in by dedicated cement carriers. Phase 2 involves the construction of a 400 000 tpa cement terminal over three to four years, contingent on demand-supply dynamics and a detailed engineering and feasibility evaluation.

India

Ambuja Cements recently announced plans to set up a 2.2 million tpa cement plant at Nagaur in Rajasthan. It has also proposed building a new bulk cement terminal to market itself in the southern markets. The terminal is expected to be operational by September of this year and the new cement plant should be up and running by December 2013.

Indonesia

Last year, Claudius Peters (CP) was awarded a contract by PT Semen Gresik to supply equipment for the company’s cement terminal at Banyuwangi. Cement is delivered by ship, mainly from the Tuban main plant, and is bagged in Banyuwangi. CP supplied the 10 000 t capacity EC silo, dedusting plants, bucket elevators and bag packing equipment plus other components.

Lithuania

In February, HeidelbergCement opened its new distribution terminal in Klaipeda and was then able to close the outdated packing line in Kaunas. The new terminal has a warehouse for storing cement, two storage silos, a rotopacker and a ready-mix plant. Cement is unloaded from the vessels onto the trucks and transported to the new terminal just 10 km away.

Malaysia

CMS Cement Sdn Bhd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cahya Mata Sarawak Berhad, recently opened its new cement terminal in Miri. Cement from the company’s Kuching plant is now transported via a fully enclosed dust-free pneumatic pipeline on to one of two dedicated purpose-built 7000 t dwt barges and shipped to Miri. Each barge is equipped with fully enclosed dust-free pneumatic self-loading and unloading systems supplied by Cargotec.

Oman

Oman’s Ministry of Transport and Communications has awarded a commercial bid representing an investment of US$143 million to more than double the Port of Salalah’s general cargo handling capacity. The planned expansion includes the construction of an additional 1200 m of a multipurpose berth with 18 m draft and liquid commodity facilities.

Pakistan

The signing ceremony of the civil works contract for the construction of Pakistan’s first mechanised coal, cement and clinker terminal at Port Qasim on a 30-year build operate and transfer (BOT) basis was held in March 2012, between Pakistan International Bulk Terminal Ltd (PIBT) and a joint venture consortium of the Turkish firm Siyahkalem and a local firm, Maqbool Associates. PIBT’s CEO, Sharique A. Siddiqui, said that the bulk cargo handling facility would be constructed at a cost of US$175 million.

Lucky Cement has a total storage capacity of 24 000 t (4 x 6000 t silos) on berth 25 at the Port of Karachi. In 2009 the company handled 1.2 – 1.3 million tpa of cement, but this year, only 650 000 t will be exported from the company’s facilities. Vessels can be loaded at a rate of 500 tph, and the average speed to load cement carriers can achieve 7000 – 8000 tpd. The loading facilities were supplied by Van Aalst.

Exports of cement from Pakistan to Sri Lanka have increased as those to Qatar and Oman have dried up due to the lower prices offered by those countries.

The fall in cement exports continued in March of this year. Compared with March 2011 the export of cement declined by 23.72%, offsetting a significant 14.8% increase in domestic sales. A spokesman of the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) expressed concerns about the decline in sea exports, which affected cement plants located in the southern parts of the country.

Cement trade between Pakistan and India resumed in April following the opening of the trade gate at Wagah. However, the Pakistani government has been unable to remove the non-tariff barriers imposed by India on Pakistani products, especially cement, and this is creating problems for the Pakistani cement producers eager to access the Indian market along the Wagah-Attari land route.

Singapore

More than 90% of the cement requirement of Singapore’s construction industry is imported through Jurong Port. A new US$100 million cement terminal to expand the handling capacity of the existing cement facility by 50% is being developed. A statement from Jurong Port in August 2011 confirmed that it had awarded a US$30 million contract to a consortium led by McConnell Dowell to design, supply and install a new cement handling system. This will be based on equipment and technology from IBAU HAMBURG. The third member of the consortium is Aggregate Engineering. The scope of the work includes the supply, design, delivery, installation and commissioning of a cement ship unloader, conveyor belt system and cement transfer system, as well as civil, structural steel, mechanical, electrical and instrumentation works. The new terminal should be operational by the second half of 2013.

YTL Cement (Terminal Services, Singapore), a subsidiary of YTL Corp. Berhad, recently awarded a contract to Claudius Peters Projects GmbH. The scope of supply comprises a multi-storage silo with seven cells for GGBS and blended cement, a cement silo of 21 000 m³, as well as six truck-loading stations with a capacity of 200 tph each plus corresponding automation for the silos.

Thailand

Earlier this year, Precious Shipping obtained a new credit facility of US$100 million from Export-Import Bank of Thailand (Exim) for the potential acquisition of new or secondhand dry bulk vessels. Precious Shipping has also executed a US$45.6 million loan facility from Bangkok Bank to finance up to 80% of the contract price of two new 20 000 dwt cement carriers.

Author: Paul Maxwell-Cook.

Sources

Company reports/news.

Bahrain News Agency. 

The Express Tribune.

Haiti Libre.

Seatade-Asia.

The News (India).

This article is an abridged version of the full article, which appeared in the June 2012 issue of World Cement. Subscribers can view the full article by logging in.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/asia-pacific-rim/28052012/cement_ports_terminal_world_contracts/