KARACHI, Aug 15: Pakistan’s first-ever common users container terminal — PICT — will be completed in April 2004 at a cost of $30 million at the Karachi Port to provide services to all shipping lines.

In an interview here on Friday, Marine Group of Companies (MGC) chairman Haleem A Siddiqui said the total cost of project, which had three phases of completion, was $70 million.

MGC is the holding company of Pakistan International Container Terminal (PICT), which is being constructed over an area of 220,000 square meters at berth numbers 6 to 9 at East Wharf of the Karachi Port.

Mr Siddiqui said that necessary civil work had been completed and terminal now possessed customs facilities, customer service with one-window operation.

The sponsors will arrange 60 per cent of the total equity of $11 million, while debt portion is estimated at $17 million. PICT will offer 25 per cent portion of the equity to public by floating IPOs.

The MGC chief said that for the first time a consortium of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), an arm of the World Bank for private sector financing, and the Opec Fund will contribute to the debt portion of the project on 50:50 sharing basis.

PICT, which began its initial operations in August 2002, now provides services to four shipping lines on weekly basis and is handling container volumes up to 80,000 TEUs annually.

Mr Siddiqui said the terminal had been designed to handle cargo from Pakistan as well as neighbouring countries, including Afghanistan and Central Asian Republics.

The terminal will handle 150,000 containers annually upon completion of first phase and more than 450,000 containers after the completion of phase III.—APP