Funds have been secured for a new project to construct a bulk liquids terminal in Sokhna Port for the import and storage of gasoil, butane gas, and LNG to Egypt, one of the most prominent projects announced in the Suez Canal Development Axis.
A joint venture between Sonker Bunkering Company, Dubai-based DP World, the Suez Canal Authority, and Red Sea Ports Authority was signed in November 2015 to manage and operate the $504m project.
Egypt will own 60% and Sonker-DP World will have the rest of the stakes.
In early February, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) approved a $144m financial loan package to Egypt’s Sonker Bunkering Company (Sonker) to its infrastructure projects; the project is still waiting on $360m in funds.
IFC is contributing $72m to the loan total, while the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is contributing $22m, and the Commercial International Bank (CIB) will provide $72m. The project is expected to be completed by mid-2017.
The total area of the project is 400,000 sqm and its storage capacity would allow the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) to import higher quantities of petroleum products, according to Minister of Petroleum Tarek El-Molla.
The construction of the project will be done by Petrojet, a state-owned engineering and construction firm in the petroleum sector with $3bn in investments, Petrojet Chairman Mohamed Shimi said in a previous statement.
The platform accommodates two shipments at the same time, with the capacity of 120,000 tonnes individually. Their storage capacity is 150,000sqm of butane gas and 100,000sqm of diesel.
Head of EGAS Khaled Abdel Badie said earlier that the plant will receive 48 shipments of LNG every year to meet the needs of Egyptian power plants. Sokhna Port is north-west of the SEZONE.
The project will be developed by Sonker, established in 2003 as a petroleum import, storage, handling, bunkering, and blending company to operate at the Sokhna Port on the Red Sea.
Sonker is jointly owned by Amiral Holdings (63%), Misr Petroleum Company (15%), the Egyptian Ministry of Finance (12%), and Cooperative Petroleum Company (10%). Amiral Holdings was established in 1999 and was assigned by the government to develop Sokhna Port, a public-private business enterprise.
The agreement between Sonker, DP World, and Red Sea Ports Authority to develop a bulk liquids terminal was originally signed in 2006. It was however amended and re-signed in March 2015 during the Egyptian Economic Development Conference (EEDC).
