April 25, 2024 [The Business Standard]- The East Coast Group is going to invest around $3.5 billion in Chattogram Bay Terminal to build a liquid bulk terminal to bolster the country’s fuel and edible oil reserve capacity.
“These projects will require an investment of $2.5 billion to $3.5 billion. There will be foreign investors participating who have credible histories,” Azam J Chowdhury, founder and chairman of East Coast Group, told The Business Standard last night in a WhatsApp message.
“It will be an oil and gas complex – first in the country – facilitating higher scale inventory management and storage terminal for LPG, LNG, petrochemical processing, finished petroleum products and vegetable oil,” he said.
This facility will greatly influence price stability in the market for which consumers are the worst sufferers. Any rise in [fuel] product prices make substantial price increases in the consumer market. Everyone knows their constraints on inventory and most intermediaries are beneficiaries. This project will be an answer [to that] like other countries, he added.
Liquid terminal to increase oil reserve capacity
Chattogram Port Authority Chairman Rear Admiral Mohammad Sohail said the construction of a liquid cargo terminal will bolster the country’s oil reserve capacity.
“East Coast Group, a Bangladeshi company, will lead the construction of the liquid bulk terminal in collaboration with foreign partners,” he said at a discussion meeting yesterday, on the occasion of the 137th Port Day.
Additionally, it will streamline oil clearance processes, effectively extending Bangladesh’s fuel reserve capacity from 25 days to a more secure two months, the CPA chairman added.
According to the CPA, the East Coast Group has offered to invest in a terminal for unloading liquid cargo including LPG, LNG, and petroleum in the Bay Terminal project.
The company has sought an allotment of 200 acres of land to build a 1,225-metre-long terminal there, with four to five jetties, enabling the terminal to berth four to five vessels at a time. This expanded capacity will significantly bolster Bangladesh’s reserve capacity for critical fuels.
East Coast Group wants to create a reserve capacity of 1 lakh tonnes of LPG, 750mmcfd of LNG, 50,000 tonnes of diesel, and 25,000 tonnes of jet fuel in the terminal, sources at the CPA told TBS.
Investment in terminal will be $3.5b
They said the East Coast Group has proposed investing $3.5 billion to expand liquid cargo terminals and oil fuel capacity. East Coast will be asked to submit designs for the terminal.
The tender process for construction is expected to begin within the next two to three months.
At today’s discussion programme, the CPA chairman also unveiled details of various ongoing projects of the port, highlighting its status as one of the nation’s flagship endeavours.
“Under the Bay Terminal project, Chattogram Port is set to collaborate with the Abu Dhabi Port Group, committing a $1 billion investment for the construction of a multipurpose terminal. Discussions are underway, with a preliminary agreement expected by the middle of the following month,” the CPA chairman said.
“Additionally, PSA International Pte Ltd and DP World, prominent players in the global logistics sector, are poised to invest $1.5 billion each in the construction of Container Terminals I and II, respectively. A further $3.5 billion will be allocated to the development of the liquid cargo terminal, with an additional $0.5 billion earmarked for the construction of the bay terminal’s channel.”
Total investment $10b
The total investment package, amounting to $10 billion, includes various developmental initiatives, including the establishment of a breakwater for wave protection and a state-of-the-art truck terminal, he added.
Rear Admiral Mohammad Sohail said the Bay Terminal project is being implemented along Marine Drive adjacent to Patenga Beach. The multi-terminal project is expected to be fully operational within the next 4-5 years, with an advanced communication system.
Direct access from the Dhaka-Chattogram highway to Marine Drive, along with a dedicated rail connection, will significantly enhance connectivity, he added.
With over 42 years of experience, East Coast Group is one of Bangladesh’s largest business conglomerates. It has a diversified portfolio that spans trading, power generation, downstream petroleum, shipping, renewable energy, plastics and ceramics manufacturing, real estate, wood treatment, corporate finance, banking, insurance, tea plantation and production, logistics, distribution and FMCG. The value of the group’s assets is around $4 billion.
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