LAHORE: The Pakistan International Bulk Terminal Limited (PIBTL) on Saturday said ample capacity existed at the terminal for handling of coal as per country’s requirements and called out people with vested interests who were trying to put the onus of price increase of different commodities on the facility in a bid to hide their own malpractice.

“Under its designed capacity, PIBTL can handle one million tonnes per month with an annual capacity of 12 million tonnes for coal. The terminal handled 10.07m tonnes coal from July 2020 to June 2021 which shows that it is well equipped to handle cargo as per its annual capacity,” the company spokesman said in a statement.

Recently congestion at the port was witnessed, with freight rates increasing to the all-time high of $36,000 per day. The surge in prices of coal, which is now being traded on its all-time high of $50 per tonne, 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.

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2021