Transnet looking at bulk liquid terminal for Ngqura

Plans for a bulk liquid handling terminal in the port of Ngqura are back in the pipeline, with a call for proposals by Transnet for the “funding, construction and operation of a liquid bulk handling and storage facility, including pipeline connections, loading arms and piperack structures to handle liquid bulk cargo across the liquid bulk berth”. Ngqura’s liquid bulk berth was built to handle imports of liquids for the planned Ngqura aluminium smelter, which has since been cancelled due to the lack of power in South Africa. Transnet is under pressure from the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality and business community to move the existing fuel tank storage facility in the Port Elizabeth harbour to Ngqura. There are also plans to build a giant oil refinery at Ngqura. The RFP closes on August 31, and it will cost R5 000 for interested parties to obtain copies from the National Ports Authority head office in Parktown, Johannesburg.