PwC to study viability of Samalaju port

Kuching: Bintulu Port Holdings Bhd (BPHB) has appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers to carry out a detailed study on the viability of the proposed Samalaju port project in Bintulu.
Chief executive officer Datuk Mior Ahmad Baiti Mior Lub Ahmad said the study, which would begin on April 11, was expected to be completed in three months’ time.
“The ongoing environmental impact assessment (EIA) study on the project is due for completion by June this year.
“The hydraulic study was completed two months ago. The findings will be used for the port’s design,” he told StarBiz.
BPHB was asked by the Sarawak government via a letter of intent about six months ago to submit a detailed proposal on the proposed new state port, the fourth in Sarawak.The existing three state ports are in Kuching, Sibu and Miri. If the proposal is accepted, BPHB had said earlier that it would be given the job to build, own and operate the Samalaju port on some 450ha earmarked by the state government.The proposed port, a crucial component of the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) development, will serve the energy-intensive industries to be set up in Samalaju Industrial Park in Bintulu.
Mior Ahmad said BPHB briefed Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud on BPHB’s proposal on the new port last month.
“We will engage with the state authorities to discuss the terms and conditions of the port’s privatisation before we submit our detailed proposal to the government,” he added.
He said four major investors had confirmed setting up their manufacturing facilities in Samalaju Industrial Park. The park’s basic infrastructure, such as roads and water and electricity supply, are being developed. Japan’s Tokuyama Corp is constructing its manufacturing facility to produce polycrystalline silicon for solar panels. The factory is expected to be operational in early 2013.
OM Holdings Ltd (OMH), which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, and Asia Mineral Ltd will both set up a manganese smelter in the park. OMH, which plans to produce 600,000 tonnes of manganese and ferro silicon alloys a year, expects its preliminary study on the project to be completed by the middle of this year while its bankable feasibility study to be ready in the third quarter. OMH has entered into an exclusive negotiations with Sarawak Energy Bhd’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Syarikat SESCo Bhd, on a long term power purchase agreement for 500MW to be supplied to its smelter.Asia Minerals targets an annual capacity of 400,000 tonnes.
Press Metal Bhd, which operates an aluminium smelter in Mukah Division within SCORE, said early last week that the phase two expansion of its smelter operation would also be located in the Samalaju Park.
The company said it had received approval from the state planning authority for the expansion project to be undertaken by wholly-owned subsidiary Press Metal Bintulu Sdn Bhd.
Phase two project will be developed in several phases, and the new smelter would have an estimated capacity of 240,000 tonnes per annum.
Also planned in the park are two other major aluminium smelter projects. One of them involves a joint venture between Australia-based Rio Tinto Alcan and Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd (CMSB).
These energy-intensive industries will draw their power supply from the 2,400MW Bakun hydroelectric dam, which is set to produce electricity in two to three months’ time.
Mior Ahmad said Bintulu Port registered a total cargo throughput of 40.6 million tonnes last year, up from 38 million tonnes in 2009.
“We project a marginal increase to 41mil tonnes this year,” he added.
To beef up port operations and enhance the efficiency in cargo handling, BPHB would invest in several quay and rubber-tyre gantry cranes this year, he said.

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