Technip revises down construction cost of oil refinery to $ 2.23b

French firm Technip, which is keen to clinch the contract for building the country’s second crude oil refinery, has revised down the estimated cost of its construction to US$ 2.23 billion.The oil refinery will have an annual capacity of 3.0 million tonnes. The revised cost of this project is around 20 per cent lower than the cost of $2.80 billion as estimated by Technip initially. The Indian consulting firm, Engineers India Limited (EIL), has also estimated that the cost might be around $1.80 billion if the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor is selected through competitive bidding. The project cost is expected to be provided by the government and the state-run Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC). Technip carried out the engineering work for the refinery at a cost of Tk 2.57 billion (US$ 32.10 million), which had been reviewed and accepted by the BPC after having consultation with the EIL. The three-year contract between the Indian consulting firm and BPC expired in April 2019. As per the agreement, the Indian firm, EIL, has to conduct a feasibility study on the refinery, decide on the plant’s configuration and help the BPC select an EPC contractor, said a senior BPC official. The EIL is responsible for overall supervision of the implementation of the new refinery in Chattogram, the official added. The contract value is Tk 1.10 billion (US$14.03 million). Officials said the project was initiated in 2015 and a memorandum of understanding (MoU) had been signed between the BPC and the Technip on November 11, 2015. To expedite the project work, the BPC on April 19, 2016 assigned the Indian consultant to manage the project. The BPC on January 18, 2017 assigned Technip to carry out the design work for the proposed refinery. Once implemented, the new refinery could help the country save $220 million every year, trebling the country’s crude oil refining capacity to 4.5 million tonnes from the existing 1.5 million tonnes per year. Currently, Bangladesh imports around 6.50 million tonnes of crude and refined petroleum products a year to meet the local demand. The BPC purchased land for the refinery at Tk 2.30 billion from the ministry of industries.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/first-page/technip-revises-down-construction-cost-of-oil-refinery-to-223b-1577038245

Chittagong Port reaches 3.0m-TEU mark

Chittagong port, the prime sea port of the country, has handled three million twenty-foot equivalent container units (TEUs) for the first time in a calendar year. The port set the new record on Saturday, nine days before the end of the current year, sources said. The Chittagong port recorded over 3.0 million containers during the period from January to December 21. This milestone has put the port on the list of ports of three million TEUs, according to the sources in Chittagong Port Authority (CPA). New-mooring Container Terminal (NCT) and Chittagong Container Terminal (CCT), the two terminals of the Chittagong sea port, have handled a total of 1.7 million TEUs, in the current year. Saif Power Tec Limited is the operator of the NCT and CCT. They have handled around 1.7 million of containers as of yesterday (Saturday) in the current year. We are trying to increase our capacity as well as the capacity of Chittagong sea port for handling the container. Chittagong sea port handled a total of 2,808,499 TEUs in 2018-19 fiscal, 2,705,909 TEUs in 2017-18 fiscal, 2,419,481 TEUs in 2016-17 fiscal, 2,189,439 TEUs in 2015-16 fiscal, 1,867,062 TEUs in 2014-15 fiscal and 162,509 TEUS containers in 2013-14 fiscal, In September this year, the port operators handled a total of 292,455 TEUs, the highest in a month. A total of 3,747 ships were berthed at Chittagong sea port in 2018, up from 3,370 in 2017. At the same time, the stay time of ships at the port has also come down. Presently, off-dock container-carrier ships are staying at the Chittagong port for only 35 hours while export container-carrier ships leave the port only within an hour. Besides, stay time of ships of imported container was not more than seven days in 2018 while the time was eight to nine days in 2017.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/first-page/ctg-port-reaches-30m-teu-mark-1577038341

SMEs are Backbone of a Country

Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) are the backbone of a country. Economic growth and sustainable development of a country depends on the SMEs development. SMEs are the backbone of a country and the economic growth and sustainable development of a country depends on SMEs development. The 23rd ICSME was aimed at promoting SME development initiatives and integrating it with the 2030 agenda of achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations. The conference comprised six technical sessions on economy, strategy, technology, work force of SME 4.0 and UN’s SDG.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/stock-corporate/smes-backbone-of-a-country-1577036580