Interview with Bintulu Port Holdings
Interview with Dato Mior Ahmad CEO of Bintulu Port Holdings Berhad
What role does BPHB play in the overall SCORE framework?
SCORE was set up in 2008 as one of the nation’s five economic growth corridors developed to accelerate the growth of Sarawak central region and transform the state into a developed state by 2020. Under the SCORE initiative, Samalaju has been identified as one of the five major growth nodes along with Tanjung Manis, Mukah, Baram and Tunoh. It will serve as a key driver in achieving the region’s ambitions to increase Sarawak ‘s Gross Domestic Product (“GDP”) five-fold, create 1.6 million new jobs and double the region’s population by 2030.
The proposed port development will form an integral shipping hub for Malaysia and serve as a catalyst for energy-intensive industries to be located adjacent to the Samalaju Industrial Park (“SIP”) and will service the region’s priority industries such as aluminium, silicon and manganese. BPHB has been invited to develop, manage and operate Samalaju Port.
You are involved in building the Samalaju Port for Samalaju Industrial Park. Is there enough traffic to justify two ports or is it more of a logical issue in needing a ocean access for SIP?
Samalaju Port will be a specialized port to serve the industries located in Samalaju Industrial Park (SIP). New heavy industries to be located in SIP are often port-dependent due to the volume of materials to be handled, and so to ensure efficiency in material handling and movement, such industries need to be located next to a ready port. Bintulu Port will not be able to support the new SIP due to constraints on its expandability. Thus Samalaju needs to develop its own port to serve its industries as well as to augment Bintulu port’s capacity. Samalaju also has a coast line where a new deep-sea port can be built at reasonable cost.
In order to handle the high volume of materials and finished products of the proposed heavy industries in SIP, the new Samalaju Port need to be constructed. This is to secure the confidence of potential investors as the Bintulu port is unable to support the proposed SIP due to constraint on its port expandability. Moreover, the current Bintulu port can also be too far from Samalaju (about 60km) as the heavy industries located in SIP will require heavy tonnage of materials to be transported to and from the port frequently.
When comes to buildings or upgrading ports, what are the factors that need to be considered so that investors can be have confidence in a port’s ability to handle their raw materials and products?
The development of the port berthing facilities, handling equipment, storage area and other port infrastructure will be designed to serve the needs and requirement of the port users.
How much tonnage do you expect to pass through Samalaju and Bintulu Port at their peak?
Based on the projection, by year 2045 the throughput for bulk cargo will reach 26 million tonnnes and 230 thousand TEUs for container (High case scenario).
Do you expect the ports in Sarawak to challenge the dominance of ports in peninsula Malaysia and Singapore? If so, how long before you become as competitive?
We are of the view that ports in Sarawak will serve its own markets & hinterland and will continue to complement other ports in peninsula Malaysia.
Interview with Dato Mior Ahmad CEO of Bintulu Port Holdings Berhad What role does BPHB play in the overall SCORE framework? SCORE was set up in 2008 as one of the nation’s five economic growth corridors developed to accelerate the growth of Sarawak central region and transform the state into a developed state by 2020. Under the SCORE initiative, Samalaju has been identified as one of the five major growth nodes along with Tanjung Manis, Mukah, Baram and Tunoh. It will serve as a key driver in achieving the region’s ambitions to increase Sarawak ‘s Gross Domestic Product (“GDP”)...
Interview with Dato Mior Ahmad CEO of Bintulu Port Holdings Berhad
What role does BPHB play in the overall SCORE framework?
SCORE was set up in 2008 as one of the nation’s five economic growth corridors developed to accelerate the growth of Sarawak central region and transform the state into a developed state by 2020. Under the SCORE initiative, Samalaju has been identified as one of the five major growth nodes along with Tanjung Manis, Mukah, Baram and Tunoh. It will serve as a key driver in achieving the region’s ambitions to increase Sarawak ‘s Gross Domestic Product (“GDP”) five-fold, create 1.6 million new jobs and double the region’s population by 2030.
The proposed port development will form an integral shipping hub for Malaysia and serve as a catalyst for energy-intensive industries to be located adjacent to the Samalaju Industrial Park (“SIP”) and will service the region’s priority industries such as aluminium, silicon and manganese. BPHB has been invited to develop, manage and operate Samalaju Port.
You are involved in building the Samalaju Port for Samalaju Industrial Park. Is there enough traffic to justify two ports or is it more of a logical issue in needing a ocean access for SIP?
Samalaju Port will be a specialized port to serve the industries located in Samalaju Industrial Park (SIP). New heavy industries to be located in SIP are often port-dependent due to the volume of materials to be handled, and so to ensure efficiency in material handling and movement, such industries need to be located next to a ready port. Bintulu Port will not be able to support the new SIP due to constraints on its expandability. Thus Samalaju needs to develop its own port to serve its industries as well as to augment Bintulu port’s capacity. Samalaju also has a coast line where a new deep-sea port can be built at reasonable cost.
In order to handle the high volume of materials and finished products of the proposed heavy industries in SIP, the new Samalaju Port need to be constructed. This is to secure the confidence of potential investors as the Bintulu port is unable to support the proposed SIP due to constraint on its port expandability. Moreover, the current Bintulu port can also be too far from Samalaju (about 60km) as the heavy industries located in SIP will require heavy tonnage of materials to be transported to and from the port frequently.
When comes to buildings or upgrading ports, what are the factors that need to be considered so that investors can be have confidence in a port’s ability to handle their raw materials and products?
The development of the port berthing facilities, handling equipment, storage area and other port infrastructure will be designed to serve the needs and requirement of the port users.
How much tonnage do you expect to pass through Samalaju and Bintulu Port at their peak?
Based on the projection, by year 2045 the throughput for bulk cargo will reach 26 million tonnnes and 230 thousand TEUs for container (High case scenario).
Do you expect the ports in Sarawak to challenge the dominance of ports in peninsula Malaysia and Singapore? If so, how long before you become as competitive?
We are of the view that ports in Sarawak will serve its own markets & hinterland and will continue to complement other ports in peninsula Malaysia.
