Brunei Fertilizer Industries (BFI) and Muara Port Company (MPC) recently embarked on a joint-project for MPC to undertake logistics, operations and port-handling services for the purpose of exporting granular urea for BFI.
The BFI project is implemented by the government of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam and is one of the largest and recent downstream oil and gas/chemical projects in Brunei Darussalam that utilises the country’s natural gas resources.
The BFI plant will be amongst the largest single-train urea facility in the world, with an expected production capacity of 1.365 million tons per annum of granular urea.
Urea, which has 46 per cent nitrogen content, has the highest nitrogen content of any solid nitrogen fertilizers and is the most used fertilizer in the world, with dominance in the Asian market.
By exporting through Muara Port, the principal port in Brunei, BFI would be able to deploy larger vessels for exports to markets such as India, Australia, Latin America and the United States.
Moreover, MPC has recently commenced preliminary works for the Muara Port expansion which aims to accommodate additional capacity by the year 2023. With this expansion of the Muara Port, MPC is best positioned to handle the fertilizer cargoes.
MPC will be providing BFI with end-to-end logistics solution to transport urea from Sungai Liang Industrial Park where BFI is located to Muara Port to cater for larger bulk carrier vessels of up to 40,000 DWT thus enabling BFI to reach its remote customers.
In this joint-project, MPC will also be the operator of BFI Terminal which is located at Sungai Liang Industrial Park. The BFI Terminal will accommodate small bulk carrier vessels of up to 9,000 DWT which is ideal for regional ports.
In a virtual signing ceremony, Chief Executive Officer of BFI Mohammed Salim Baderkhan said that the partnership is one of BFI’s projects to support the strong positive momentum for the Brunei Government’s economic diversification efforts.
“Together BFI and MPC’s partnership will increase the local in-country value and create more than 150 employment opportunities directly and indirectly,” he said, adding that it will contribute towards achieving the goals of Wawasan 2035.
He further highlighted that the agreement is a significant milestone that will help BFI to realise its future business plans and exports to regional customers and customers in the four continents thus, maximising BFI’s income and net back.
Sharing the same sentiment, Chief Eexcutive Officer of MPC Zeng Caili said that the implementation of the project will ensure long-standing partnership on vessel operations and cargo handling services between the two parties.
“It is also hoped that the project will complement industry growth and logistics facilitation in Brunei Darussalam as well as create more opportunities for manpower growth in various fields within the logistic sector and the downstream oil and gas,” he said.
Signing on behalf of BFI was Mohammed Salim Baderkhan while MPC was represented by Zeng Caili.
The signing was witnessed by Corporate Secretary of BFI Dk Amalina Pg Kasmirhan, and Chief Operating Officer of MPC Mohd Fazilah Hj Md Yassin.
THE BRUNEIAN | BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
