Ennore Port gives LoI for iron-ore terminal project

Chennai: Ennore Port Ltd, India’s first corporate seaport has awarded a Letter of Intent (LoI) to Sical Logistics-led consortium to build an iron-ore terminal at the port facility.

Professor K Anbazhagan, Finance Minister of Tamil Nadu formally handed over the LoI to Sical Chairman Dr. A.C. Muthiah at a function presided over by T. R. Baalu, India's Minister for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways.

The iron ore terminal will be developed on Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis with 30 years concession period, including the construction time. The terminal will have a capacity for 12 million tonnes of cargo per year, which could be expandable to 15/20 million tonnes per annum at later stage. The facility will comprise of a jetty, ship loader, mechanized handling system with conveyor, storage, and a wagon unloading system.

The project is estimated to cost nearly Rs. 5.5-billion. The terminal will become operational during the financial year 2008-09.

Initially, the terminal will handle Panamax and Cape size vessels up to 150,000 DWT; after dredging, the terminal will be able to handle vessels of 225,000 DWT. Other features include the capability of an average 75,000-tonnes-per day ship-loading rate; a stockpile area that can store 1.2 million tonnes of iron ore; and a railway wagon unloading system that can handle up to twelve 3,500-tonne rakes per day.

The project, to be implemented on a revenue sharing basis with Ennore Port, is expected to generate nearly Rs. 2 billion annually.

Ashwin Muthiah, Vice Chairman, Sical Logistics, said that the Ennore terminal would provide a major boost to iron ore movement in southern India, and, consequently, to the economy of the region.

'Iron ore exporters in southern India will soon get a world class terminal to berth cape size vessels with fast loading rates that conform to international benchmarks,' Mr. Muthiah said. 'The Ennore Port Terminal will open up major possibilities, both in terms of direction and volume of movement, given its location on India's eastern coastline, close to the strong demand centers in the Asia-Pacific,' he added.

The terminal further strengthens Sical's strategic framework of multi-modal integrated logistics, Mr. Muthiah said. 'Taken together with Sical's trucking operations and plans for container trains, the value proposition to the customer is clear -- a significant debottlenecking of the supply chain, resulting in a seamless flow from the mines to the terminal and to the ultimate destination ports,' he said.

Earlier Ennore Port opens its new corporate office in Chennai.