LAHORE: Ample capacity exists at Pakistan International Bulk Terminal Limited (PIBTL) for handling coal as per country’s requirement, as the terminal designed for handling one million ton per month with an annual capacity of 12 million ton for coal.
The terminal handled 10.07 million ton coal from July 2020 to June 2021 which shows that PIBTL is well equipped to handle cargo as per its annual capacity, a spokesman of PIBTL, said.
According to him, the recent congestion at the port is witnessed across the globe, with freight rates increasing to the all-time high of US $ 36,000 per day. The surge in prices of coal, which is now being traded on its all-time high of US $ 150/- per ton, is also a contributing factor for the congestion at PIBT as many importers anticipating the increase ordered a few months’ supply in advance without considering terminal capacity and the strain it will put on this national infrastructure project.
“There will be no extra load on the terminal if the importers manage their imports amicably, as evident from the last year data of coal handling when PIBTL 10 million ton of cargo, which is still 2 million ton less than its capacity,” the spokesman said, adding: “In fact, between January 21 and April 21, only 2.65 million ton coal was handled and the remaining capacity was not utilized in those months, similar situation was witnessed between July 20 and August 20 combined when only 1.4 million ton of coal was handled.”
It may be noted that the terminal contributes a hefty sum of Rs 5.8 billion per annum to the national exchequer, of which around Rs 3.7 billion per annum is in terms of royalty payment of $2.27 for every ton of cargo handled, and around Rs. 2.1 billion in terms of other duties and taxes.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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