CREC to build oil terminal at Asia Petroleum Hub

Big contract: Liow (back row, centre) and Dr Wee (back row, second from left) witnessing the MoU signing ceremony between Lim (seated, centre), Fajarbaru Builder Sdn Bhd director and COO Toh Teong Hock (seated, right) and China Railway Engineering Corporation deputy general manager Sun Hang (seated, left) on the construction of Asia Petroleum Hub oil terminal in Johor. With them are (back row, from left) CREC general manager Cai Zemin, Smart Crest Sdn Bhd director Kerbin SC Chia, and MCA treasurer-general Tan Sri Kuan Peng Soon.

RM1.8bil contract comes days after collapse of Bandar Malaysia deal

BEIJING: China Railway Engineering Corporation (CREC) has been awarded a contract worth US$400mil (RM1.8bil) for the construction of the oil terminal of the just-revived Asia Petroleum Hub (APH).

Smart Crest Sdn Bhd, which has an oil terminal at Westport, signed a framework agreement to award the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) to CREC here yesterday.

At the signing ceremony, Smart Crest’s chief executive officer Datuk Lim Kian Boon said the contract is worth US$400mil and Fajarbaru Builder Sdn Bhd will be the local joint venture partner in-charge of civil works.

“We have not defined the percentage of the joint venture yet, because the project is already 60% completed when I took over, so we are not sure how much local content is left,” Lim said.

He was speaking to Malaysian media here after the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signing ceremony witnessed by Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.

Lim said CREC would be responsible for the construction of the terminal on a turnkey basis.

Asia Petroleum Hub Sdn Bhd was set up in 2005 to undertake the development and operation of an integrated oil terminal facility on a 40.4ha reclaimed land at Tanjung Bin, off the Port of Tanjung Pelepas in Johor.

The project, launched in 2007 with financing from CIMB, was stalled in 2010 after it ran into financial difficulties.

Lim said Smart Crest bought it over from CIMB last year.

“Construction is likely to begin in the third quarter of this year and expected to be completed within 18 and 24 months,” he added.

The APH would provide trans-shipment and storage facilities, and serve as a strategic hub to break-bulk, make-bulk, blend and redistribute petroleum products to domestic and regional markets.

The MoU yesterday came several days after the Bandar Malaysia deal collapsed, which saw CREC and its local partner Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Sdn Bhd dropped as the master developer.

But Lim said his group has confidence in CREC to complete the APH, a private project.

“We have engaged CREC for one-and-a-half years and we have seen their work ethic and their enthusiasm towards the project.

“CREC is choosy about their projects. They always prefer projects that are strategic and have potential. That is why we work with them,” he explained.

CREC deputy general manager Sun Heng said the APH would address the market needs in South-East Asia, a region with a busy and important maritime route.

Liow, meanwhile, said Malaysia still has much room for improvement in the sector of oil terminal, while Singapore is already saturated.

“Malaysia and Singapore can complement each other,” he said.

Liow said before the signing: “This APH, once completed, can complement the busy ports of Singapore and promote the growth of other downstream industries, which further elevate the APH as a true petroleum hub in Asia.”