KARACHI: Pakistan International Bulk Terminal Limited (PIBT), the country’s first coal, clinker and cement terminal at Port Qasim, will be formally inaugurated by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Saturday.

The terminal was completed at a cost of $285 million early this year, according to a press statement, and has so far provided berths to 12 coal ships.

The terminal has been dredged up to 13 metres and is capable of handling ships of up to 65,000 tons.

“The terminal jetty has been built to handle deeper draft vessels of 15.5 metres and PIBT will be able to handle larger vessels once Port Qasim dredges the channel beyond 13 metres,” the statement said.

A coal cargo ship currently takes around five days at Karachi Port while the same cargo can be handled within two days at the dedicated terminal due to the modern and mechanised handling system, it said.

The terminal has a built-in capacity of handling up to 12 million tons of coal and 4 million tons of cement and clinker per year, which can together be further enhanced up to 20 million tons.

It has been set up for handling and delivering coal to power and cement plants by utilising the rail, road and sea networks.

PIBT is financed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, and has built the facility according to World Bank’s standards of environmental and health safety.

PIBT is a public listed company quoted on the Pakistan Stock Exchange and is sponsored by the Marine Group of Companies.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 14th, 2017.