The funds will mostly be utilised to finance dredging works to prepare deeper draft for bigger cargo vessels to call at Bintulu Port and for the upgrading of ageing port handling equipment, said Ruslan.
KUCHING: Bintulu Port Holdings Bhd
(BPHB) has allocated RM80mil in capital expenditure (capex) for this year.
The funds will mostly be utilised to finance dredging works to prepare deeper draft for bigger cargo vessels to call at Bintulu Port and for the upgrading of ageing port handling equipment, said group chief executive officer Ruslan Abdul Ghani.
“We are looking at optimising our capex and exploring ways to rejuvenate the ageing equipment which are mostly 20 to 25 years old, instead of replacing them with new ones,” he said after the company’s AGM here yesterday.
BPHB recorded a 7.6% growth in total annual cargo throughput volume of 50.73 million tonnes in the financial year ended Dec 31, 2022 (FY22) from 47.16 million tonnes in FY21.
The expanded cargo throughput was spearheaded by a rise in liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo, which climbed 8.5% to 24.89 million tonnes from 22.95 million tonnes in 2021.
Non-LNG cargo volume grew 6.7% to 25.83 million tonnes from 24.21 million tonnes in 2021.
Ruslan said BPHB will build on this growth in total cargo throughput by working with global partners to bring more cargo vessels to call at Bintulu Port and sister Samalaju Industrial Port, to establish a direct shipping link between Bintulu and Vietnam for the exports of cargo like aluminium products.
In addition, he said BPHB is working on cargo trans-shipments at Bintulu Port from other ports, including Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.
In 2023, Ruslan expects Tiger Gas to add about 8,000 20-ft equivalent units (TEUs) to Bintulu Port in the shipment of LNG ISO tanks.
In a joint venture with Tiger Gas, Bintulu Port Sdn Bhd commissioned the first dual-fuelled LNG ISO tank carrier in the world last year. The 192-metre MV Tiger Bintulu commenced its maiden voyage from Bintulu Port in July 2022 with 400 units of LNG ISO tanks.
Bintulu Port handled 364,169 TEUs while Samalaju Industrial Port, which was a purpose-built port to cater for the logistic requirements of energy-intensive industries in Samalaju Industrial Park, recorded 7,960 TEUs in 2022.
Chairman Datuk Abdul Mutalib Alias said one of the milestones achieved by BPHB last year was the commencement of four new export lines at Biport Bulkers Sdn Bhd’s palm oil berthing docks to increase the handling of shipment operations to 17 lines simultaneously from 13 lines.
Asked about the plan by the Sarawak government to take back Bintulu Port from the federal government, Mutalib said discussions on the matter are ongoing.
He added, however, that there is no timeline as to when the negotiations will be wrapped up.
“We support the federal-Sarawak government’s decision on the exercise. As far as the port is concerned, business will be as usual,” he added.
Earlier this month, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusoff said the federal government had just received a letter from the Sarawak government regarding its request to take over the administration of the Bintulu Port.
He said a committee involving the federal and Sarawak government will be set up to decide if the Bintulu Port’s administration would be handed over to the Sarawak government
“We will also discuss with the Finance Ministry to look at the views of the federal government to see if they agree to hand over the administration of the port to Sarawak, in accordance with the provisions in the Federal Constitution and the Inter-Government Committee,” said Fadillah.
Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari had said recently that the Sarawak government’s intent to take back control of Bintulu Port from the federal government is part of the state’s overall development strategies.
