THE STAR – 23 MAY 2008 (FRIDAY)
Johor Corp unit in expansion talks – Tanjung Langsat Port to beef up facilities
KUALA LUMPUR: Johor Corp Bhd unit Tanjung Langsat Port Sdn Bhd, which is issuing RM385 mil worth of Islamic bonds, is in talks with a Malaysian shipping company to expand its facilities to shipbuilding and repairs.
Chief executive officer Tan Sri Muhammad Ali Hashim said the company would consider any fresh interest in the port, as there was ample space.
With a coastline of 4.5km and an area covering about 700 acres, Tanjung Langsat Port aspires to become the region’s premier specialised port by 2010, focusing on the handling of liquid bulk cargo and dry cargo related to offshore oil and gas activities.
“We understand that there is a shortage of ship-repair facilities in the region,” he told reporters after the signing for the bonds issuance yesterday.
The ceremony marks the entry of Tanjung Langsat Port to the Islamic debt capital market with the issuance of Islamic securities comprising RM250mil Sukuk Musyarakah and RM135mil Musyarakah Commercial Papers/ Musyarakah Medium Term Notes.
Malaysian Rating Corp Bhd has assigned final ratings of AA- and MARC-1 for the RM250mil and RM135mil debt issues respectively.
The proceeds from this facility will primarily fund the expansion of the port, construction of the storage tank, repay existing borrowings to Bank Pembangunan Bhd and other operating expenses.
The port’s expansion plans include the construction of three more berths for liquid cargo costing RM165mil to complement its existing two berths and a general/specialised cargo wharf estimated at RM130mil.
The new facilities are expected to be ready by end-2009. According to Muhammad, upon completion of the expansion, the port was expected to handle about 30 million tonnes of cargo annually, which was comparable to Pasir Gudang.
He also said Johor Corporaiton was in discussion with the Government to designate a portion of Tanjung Langsat Industrial Complex as a palm oil industrial cluster besides the biofuel park that was launched last year.
“From the indication given, the Government was very receptive to the idea,” he said, adding that to date, the industrial complex had attracted close to RM10bil of investments.
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