LIQUID BULK TERMINAL DEVELOPMENT STALLS

THE DEVELOPMENT of the Liquid Bulk Terminal in the Port of Ngqura in the Nelson Mandela Bay region has stalled due to it being unable to secure sufficient customer commitment, Oiltanking Grindrod Calulo (OTGC) said yesterday. “To date, OTGC has not been able to secure sufficient customer commitment for the project. OTGC is therefore in a regrettable position that it is unable to execute on the project and is liaising with Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) on the way forward,” it said. OTGC was awarded a preferred bidder status in 2011 by TNPA to develop a liquid bulk storage terminal in the Port of Ngqura to service fuel importers in the Nelson Mandela Bay region, which was intended to replace the existing terminal in Port Elizabeth. A decision was originally taken to construct the Port of Ngqura to accommodate an emerging trend in the container market for larger vessels requiring ports to have deeper draughts. The Port of Ngqura is being positioned as a container transhipment hub for sub-Saharan Africa and is seen as an integral part within the Coega industrial development zone. Since the date of award, OTGC had been engaged in negotiating the build, own, operate and transfer agreement, engineering design of the terminal, obtaining commercial commitments from customers, negotiating funding with lenders, and obtaining the required regulatory permits for the construction of the project, it said.